Additional Afghan mission costs...

...seem reasonable to me:

Manley's Afghan equipment list to cost $1.1 billion

Fulfilling the Manley commission's conditions to extend Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan to 2011 will cost more than $1.1 billion, say federal budget documents.

The Conservative government is asking for an extra $822 million in the current budget year to pay for "basic infrastructure to support air enhancements" and "mission close out costs."

That request is in addition to the $292 million set aside last year for six used Chinook CH-47D helicopters from the U.S. Army.

The final price tag for the two-year extension, which would include troops and armoured vehicles, is still being worked out by National Defence.

The latest request before Parliament refers to the operational expenses of deploying helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft [more here on Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) Air Wing] to support ground forces, said a spokesman for the Canadian Forces Expeditionary Force Command, the headquarters that oversees the war...

This a relief--good on Uncle Sam:

...
The independent commission – headed by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley – also recommended that the country's NATO partners deliver an extra battalion of ground troops to reinforce Canadian operations.

The Americans last year provided 650 soldiers, belonging to the famed 1st Infantry Division, who deployed to western Kandahar under Canadian command [in August 2008, though the MND seemed unaware of their presence in November last year--more here on Task Force Kandahar].

Canadian taxpayers are not on the hook for the U.S. reinforcements.

Regarding MND MacKay, I think Norman Spector has rather a point here:

THE COLUMN I’M GLAD I DIDN’T WRITE
...

Since when do serving military officers write this kind of stuff?

MacKay proves his credibility (Cochrane)