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To: lorne who wrote (45693)	12/7/1999 10:42:00 AM
From: John Hunt	Respond to of 116791

Sweeping Y2K powers (Canada) - Feds make secret plans for a crisis By MARK DUNN -- Ottawa Bureau December 7, 1999 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 The Toronto Sun. The new law gives cabinet sweeping powers to issue whatever orders or regulations it believes are necessary to deal with emergencies such as major power outages caused by computer glitches or civil insurrections, major riots and prison revolts. Depending on the emergency -- such as a nuclear accident -- manpower, vehicles, equipment, food and clothing could be mobilized. People can be arrested, including those who hoard supplies. It can also restrict travel. 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 at midnight Dec. 31 to handle any crisis that could hit. Cabinet has the power to invoke the Emergencies Act, which was passed in 1988 to replace the War Measures Act -- used by Pierre Trudeau in 1970 to quell the FLQ terrorist crisis. "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 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 crackpots 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 ministers -- Treasury Board's Lucienne Robillard, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, Industry's John Manley and Defence Minister Art Eggleton -- will run the show. Others 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 Dec. 31, but has been told to be on standby to return to Parliament. Sources say senators were alerted and besides the 10 or so in the Ottawa area, others in Toronto and Montreal have been warned to be prepared to go to Ottawa. Guy McKenzie, spokesman 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. We have ministers in town to basically craft decisions if needed because they are the ultimate decision-making power." canoe.ca Must be a h*ll of a 3 day winter storm coming.