A peace-loving son of a former German diplomat will be having the last laugh today after CBC unearthed proof yesterday (July 26) that it cost the RCMP $45,000 to host former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Surrey Regional Economic Summit last fall.

“I am outraged, just outraged, that our tax money has to go and pay to protect a self-confessed war criminal,” Juergen Dankwort told the Straight outside of the host hotel at the October 20, 2011, event. “As a Canadian, it’s pretty upsetting.”

Surrey mayor Dianne Watts said at the time that security for the ex-leaders at the summit would not cost taxpayers anything.

Dankwort also attended a protest against an appearance by former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney in downtown Vancouver last September. Dankwort agreed that such events, featuring high-ranking American leaders past and present, tend to attract local American ex-pats, such as activist Tom Sandborn, Langara College instructor Peter Prontzos, and former COPE city councillor Anne Roberts.

“I think that you still have a love for justice and a love for what your country is supposed to stand for, regardless of where you’re living, right?” Swedish-born Dankwort, who spent many years in New York City but was never a U.S. citizen, said during the interview. “That’s really the most important thing, isn’t it?.…So those are things that, I think, motivate people. Often, when you have more of a personal experience, it serves more as a motivation.”

Juergen’s father, Werner Dankwort, was a former German ambassador to Canada. Dankowort is a sociology instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.