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Saturday, September 10, 2005
A wrong number? Voice mail? Canada's emergency preparedness system fails its first test
According to the National Post, Navy personnel were unable to get in touch with the Emergency Preparedness Operations Centre:
Navy personnel told the National Post that repeated calls to Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada went unanswered over the long weekend, meaning government supplies could not be accessed before the ship's departure.
When supply officers called emergency officials in Ottawa, the officials were not available, said a senior officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"We were calling them all weekend," the officer said. "All we got was voice mail ... [and] they never called back."
Anne McLellan is the minister in charge. A spokesperson has a different story:
Officials in Ottawa, however, said the sailors must simply have been calling the wrong number.
We have a government operations centre manned 24/7 -- and if someone had called that number we would have coordinated that effort, we would have been in a position to do so," said Lia Quickert, a spokeswoman for Anne McLellan, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. "I can't explain the alleged disconnect."
Navy personnel ultimately raided Navy depots and went on a buying spree in Halifax, purchasing supplies from local merchants.
From the government, and in particularly Anne McLellan, a detailed explanation of what happened is required. What phone number were the Navy people calling? Was it the wrong number? If so, why did they have the wrong number? If not, why did they not get a response from operations centre if indeed it is manned 24/7?
When was the last exercise on the system run? Exercises are run in order to sort out these details. The government has run exercises, hasn't it?
The Opposition must hold the government to account. We were lucky this time. Canada itself was not subject to a crisis. We have an opportunity now to address what happened, but only if people are willing to be honest.
This is important because the story strikes at our confidence in the government's ability to respond in a critical situation. That lack of confidence can actually exacerbate the situation in a time of crisis.
[Expanded entry at Angry in the Great White North]
Posted by Steve Janke on September 10, 2005 | Permalink
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But if they did get Voice Mail, then, surely the voicemail would have announced the department, and the callers would have known whether or not it was the 'wrong number' as Ms McLellan is claiming. Therefore - it would appear that they were calling the correct number.
Posted by: ET | 2005-09-10 1:50:37 PM
AdScam Martin Librano$ is mute/silent/deaf/dumb/dead?>>>
Prime Minister John Howard reflects on the consequences of the September 11 attacks, four years on.
This year marks the fourth anniversary of the horrendous September 11 terror attacks in the United States. It is again an opportunity to think of the tens of thousands directly affected, Australians included. In this country we remember in particular 10 Australians who were killed, in addition to some 3000 people who died in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The events of September 11 were an attack on a way of life, which both our societies hold dear. Just as the terror strikes in Madrid, Bali, London, Jakarta, and the many attacks in Iraq are a continuation of a fight against those who preach hatred and despair.
Despite the terror attacks we have suffered together, we have seen new democracies emerge and develop around the globe, including Afghanistan, Iraq and East Timor to name a few. Those who oppose democracy and religious freedom should consider how many new authoritarian governments have been formed in this time. For this reason Australia has reaffirmed our commitment in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
The acts of violence on September 11 have changed our lives irrevocably. Many of us who work in public buildings now work behind concrete bollards, shatter-resistant windows and in the permanent presence of security guards. These are everyday reminders of the threat we now face.
In the wake of the terror attacks, the provisions of the ANZUS Treaty were invoked for the first time in its 50 years.>> more
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1481964/post
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-09-10 4:18:37 PM
You are forgetting what is important. What is very, very, important is that Paul Martin be at the Halifax docks as the ships were leaving for the appropriate photo-op. As there have been no reports to the contrary, one can only assume that this feat was pulled off without a hitch. What more do you expect from this government?
Posted by: TimR | 2005-09-10 6:14:58 PM
Saturday, September 10, 2005 9:58:36 PM
Statement by the Prime Minister on the fourth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks
September 10, 2005
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Paul Martin issued the following statement today on the fourth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States:>>> more
[Time of posting on PM PM's site?]
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-09-10 8:02:11 PM
If there was a disaster within Ontario, the system would work perfectly - in fact it would exceed expectations.
If it was outside Ontario, it would make the Katrina operation seem perfect. Weeks would pass before aid came. Times two if it were in Alberta, just cuz. Remember when Paul Martin Trudeau came to Alberta after the floods earlier this year, and some woman refused to shake his hand because of his pathetic response?
Human life means nothing to the rich people in Ontario. Their sole concern is staying rich, and will trample on anyone who gets in their way. To hell with them. Alberta secedes.
Posted by: Scott | 2005-09-10 9:18:16 PM
I lived in Tokyo for many years. Every September on the anniversary of the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 there is a city-wide earthquake preparedness drill -- sort of like a massive fire drill. This involves a huge number of people in business, schools and government. Households are reminded to check their stores of emergency supplies, water, etc. This is the type of thing that needs to be done in Canada, especially in B.C. and other high risk places for earthquakes. When I lived in B.C. I don't recall civic officials doing anything remotely close to what the Japanese do.
Posted by: Two Cents | 2005-09-10 9:22:27 PM
Your governments can't even deal with the simplest and most mundane tasks that they assign themselves, without turning them into shambles of waste, inefficiency and corruption. Expecting them to take money from you and invest it wisely and carefully in preparations for unscheduled and unforeseen catastrophes is the epitome of misplaced trust.
You have brains, so does most of your family I assume, as well as common sense, and an adequate instinct for survival, and so do your friends and neighbors and the good people in your insurance company, at the local lumberyard, and the in the many private companies in your area that run buses, do home repairs, etc. If that isn't enough to get you through a crisis such as Hurricane Katarina, then God help you.
I won't be comfortable thinking about any future disaster in Canada until I hear that taxes have been drastically cut, and that government has no plan and has made no preparations whatsoever. Privatizing and deregulating vital services like hospitals, transportation and utility companies will also help tremendously.
Posted by: Justzumgai | 2005-09-11 2:08:38 PM
Some other points. When the electricity failed in Ontario in 2003 the federal emergency operations centre in Ottawa (at the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness) was unable to function as it had no independent back-up electricity supply.
During the 1998 Ice Storm the response by the federal bureaucracy was coordinated by Emergency Preparedness Canada (the predecessor of the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness) through that operations centre; the federal ministers who were taking the political lead to the response were not even aware of what was being done through the operations centre.
When it was EPC, the organization was an autonomous civilian unit within DND reporting to the Vice Chief of Defence Staff. OCIPEP is now one of many parts of the new Department of Public Security and Emergency Preparedness, and one of the least prominent--sort of like the position of FEMA (in normal times) within the US Department of Homeland Security.
Mark
Ottawa
Posted by: Mark Collins | 2005-09-12 1:20:44 PM
mark: wouldn't it be simpler and easier just to let FEMA handle Canada? They seem to be better prepared, and a lot more interested in disaster relief than Canada is.
Why does every generalization about the US and Canada make the latter seem trivial and pathetic by comparison?
Posted by: Scott | 2005-09-12 1:59:19 PM
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