Defence Department Has Rented $700,000 Worth Of Generators For Y2K (Ottawa)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Tuesday, December 7, 1999 DND buying up generators By STEPHANIE RUBEC, OTTAWA BUREAU OTTAWA -- The Defence Department has rented $700,000 worth of generators to thwart possible Y2K computer power failures.

Public Works has fenced in four giant diesel generators housed in tractor trailers next to the Defence headquarters to power its crisis centre.

The Defence Department has tagged about 11,000 reservists and 14,000 regular forces for work starting Dec. 27 through New Year's Day.

Everyone else is on call.

Defence is paying the tab to rent the huge generators until mid-January.

Maj. John Blakely, a Defence spokesman, said the military needs a backup electrical system to ensure the $386-million Y2K preparedness plan runs smoothly.

"Against the worst, DND has to be prepared," he said.

Blakely downplayed the possibility of any Y2K disasters, and predicted the majority of the 60,000 soldiers and 20,000 reservists won't be called to work. http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryNews/cs.cs-12-07-0050.html

-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 07, 1999

Answers

Tuesday, December 7, 1999 PM, key ministers on Y2K alert

Cabinet ready to invoke updated War Measures Act to deal with emergencies Jan. 1

By MARK DUNN, Sun Media Ottawa Bureau OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government will be on full Y2K alert New Year's Eve and ready to invoke an updated War Measures Act if needed, sources have told Sun Media.

The law gives cabinet sweeping powers to issue orders or regulations it believes necessary to deal with emergencies such as major power cuts caused by computer glitches or civil insurrections, riots and prison revolts.

Depending on the emergency -- such as a nuclear accident -- people, vehicles, equipment, food and clothing could be mobilized.

People can be arrested, including those hording supplies. It can also restrict travel to certain areas.

Failure to comply could lead to fines and prison terms of up to five years.

Chretien has ordered eight key cabinet ministers to be in Ottawa when the clock strikes midnight Dec. 31 to handle any crisis.

Cabinet has the power to invoke the rarely used Emergencies Act, which was passed in 1988 to replace the War Measures Act -- the draconian legislation Pierre Trudeau rolled out in 1970 to quell the FLQ terrorist uprising.

The updated act is not quite as tough as the War Measures Act because it is restricted by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"They can't arrest you just for something they think you've done, but they can arrest you for not obeying the (emergency) regulations they've made," a government insider said.

Senior officials are loath to acknowledge the potential for disaster and say Canada is nearly fully compliant to respond to Y2K problems.

They are even more reluctant to discuss the potential for terrorist threats, mass suicides and those looking to enter the afterlife in a blaze of glory.

"We don't respond to hypothetical situations," said Valerie de Montigny of the Privy Council Office.

Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson has responsibility for invoking the act -- which sets in motion a chain of events, including the recall of Parliament.

At least 10 MPs and 15 senators would have to be in attendance to approve the emergency law.

Four key cabinet ministers -- Treasury Board's Lucienne Robillard, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, Industry's John Manley and Defence Minister Art Eggleton -- will run the show.

Other ministers in town that night will include Transport's David Collenette, Health Minister Allan Rock, Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale and Justice Minister Anne McLellan.

Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano will be in Montreal on Dec. 31 but has been told to be on standby to return to Parliament Hill.

Speaker Gib Parent is holding a party so he can also be called upon.

Sources say senators have been alerted and besides the 10 or so living in the Ottawa-Hull area, others living in Toronto and Montreal have been warned to be prepared to go to Ottawa.

Guy McKenzie, spokesperson for a federal group responsible for millennium contingency planning, was reluctant to discuss doomsday scenarios.

"We don't have anything to make us believe that we need to work through scenarios at this point," he said. "We have ministers in town to basically craft decisions if needed because they are the ultimate decision-making power."

Meanwhile, the Defence Department has rented $700,000 worth of generators for New Year's Eve to use in the event of Y2K power failures.

-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 07, 1999.


[And here's another, earlier clue...]

Wednesday, July 07, 1999

Ottawa rents satellite dishes to prepare for Y2K problems
$21-million price tag

Robert Fife National Post

OTTAWA - A chain of fail-safe satellite dishes are being installed across Canada to ensure the federal government can carry on public services in the event of a widespread communications failure caused by a Year 2000 computer meltdown.

To provide a fail-safe backup computer system, National Defence is renting about 43 special dishes, at a cost of $21-million, which will link up to the Anik E satellite. By mid-September, the satellite dishes should be installed in every major city in Canada, including all provincial and territorial capitals.

Michael Proctor, a DND computer specialist in charge of the project, said the satellite dishes will be impervious to any Y2K disruption that might affect regular telecommunications services or electrical grids.

"They are intended to provide command and control for deployed operations that could turn out to be necessary in that time period so that there is secure voice and fax and point-to-point data for formal messaging," he said.

The satellite network will also serve as a communications backup to the military. Canadian Forces already has plans to pre-position emergency equipment and supplies in key areas in case computers crash.

The satellite dishes will serve as the key communications network in case of power shortages or other emergencies, Mr. Proctor said.

"For example, if we move 10,000 blankets to one location in Saskatchewan than we'd need the ability to locate the blankets, to move them to the air base to transport them," he said.

The system will operate from September, 1999 to March, 2000 -- the anticipated peak period on both sides of New Year's Eve.

[ENDS]

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), December 07, 1999.


Anik E? Not good news!

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), December 08, 1999.

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