CANADA a Y2K Threat to the US??

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Since when?

Guess who the U.S. is most afraid of for Y2K? Canada

BARRIE McKENNA Washington Bureau Thursday, November 18, 1999

Washington -- The United States has spent a staggering $100-billion (U.S.) to get itself Y2K-ready, but one potential menace is still lurking out there: Canada.

That's right, Canada. The White House fingered its northern neighbour yesterday as the greatest single foreign threat to the U.S. economy in a new report on the impact of the Y2K computer bug.

Although it gets high marks for Y2K readiness, Canada apparently has three strikes against it: It is the United States' largest trading partner, it is highly technology-reliant and its computers are heavily integrated with U.S. networks.

"The Canadian economy is IT-intensive and therefore inherently vulnerable to IT failures," according to a government report.

"It is also very important to the United States, both in terms of our trade relations and in terms of extensive Y2K-related linkages," said the 25-page report by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economics and Statistics Administration.

As a result, Canada poses a far greater economic danger to the United States than any other Group of Seven country, Mexico, China, the former Soviet republics or Saudi Arabia, according to the report.

The Commerce Department applauded Canada for working hard to prepare for potential Y2K computer problems, adding that this has greatly reduced the potential risk to the United States. U.S. officials add they have no evidence there will be "a foreign shock."

But the carefully worded report warned against complacency.

"Extensive preparation does not mean that a country will not experience disruptions," the report noted. "If such disruptions occur in sectors with close links to the United States, U.S. firms could be affected.

Of course, the opposite holds true too, the report said. "It is also worth noting that from each of these countries' perspectives -- especially Canada's -- the U.S. may represent one of their largest foreign Y2K risks"

Canadian government officials point out that they are in near-daily contact with U.S. officials to ensure there are no New Year's surprises, particularly in key sectors such as energy, telecommunications and transportation. At last month's summit of officials of the North American free-trade agreement, White House Y2K adviser John Koskinen predicted "North America would be well prepared for the year 2000."

U.S. officials played down the overall risks to the U.S. economy posed by the Y2K problem -- either from outside the country or within. (The fear has been that beginning New Year's Day computers that use two digits to reflect a year will confuse the year 2000, or "00," as 1900, and fail.)

Commerce Secretary William Daley urged Americans not to "lose any sleep worrying about January 1st" because the country is Y2K ready.

"The greatest cost to our economy is behind us, with billions of dollars diverted from other uses to fix this problem," he told reporters in Washington. "And glitches that pop up next year should not have a significant impact at all on our economic growth."

Preparedness didn't come cheaply. The report said U.S. governments and businesses have already spent $100-billion testing and upgrading computers to get ready in what Mr. Daley called "the greatest management challenge" since the Second World War. That represents $365 for every man, woman and child in the United States.

"This was not an imaginary situation," Mr. Daley said. "It was a real problem that had to be corrected."

The United States is expected to spend another $15-billion before all is said and done, raising the grand total to nearly $115-billion. That's down from some earlier forecasts of $300-billion or more.

The report found that U.S. expenditures peaked at $31.9-billion last year, and will drop to $28.9-billion this year. Businesses and government are expected to spend nearly $6-billion in 2000 and 2001.

The U.S. government alone has spent $8.5-billion. General Motors Corp. and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. both have spent more than $600-million.

In Canada, the federal government has estimated that the public and private sectors would spend as much as $60-billion (Canadian) getting ready for the date change -- a figure that, if accurate, would put Canada on a course to spend nearly five times more than the United States on a per capita basis.

U.S. officials said there is no evidence yet that consumers are hoarding or stockpiling in preparation for year-end, although they conceded that it's too early to get a good reading. Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan recently suggested that irrational spending patterns might be the greatest lingering threat to the U.S. economy from Y2K.

The Commerce report said that while Big Business is ready, as many as 500,000 U.S. small businesses have adopted a "fix-on-fail" Y2K strategy, and remain unprepared.

Whatever happens, the Y2K bug won't slow the red-hot U.S. economy, although it could "influence the pattern and the timing of this growth," predicted Robert Shapiro, head of the Economics and Statistics Administration. He also raised the possibility that companies may enjoy a Y2K dividend as they get the benefits of their computer upgrades while reducing expenditures.

And while Mr. Daley urged Americans not to lose any sleep over Y2K, he asked major decision makers to be poised for action on New Year's eve. "I would strongly encourage CEOs, CIOs, CFOs in major companies, major sectors, to be absolutely involved that evening . . . [to be at] their desks or at a cubicle or just at the end of a telephone," he said.



-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), November 18, 1999

Answers

And yet another name to add to the scapegoat list. Let's see, so far we've got religious nuts, terrorists, other misc hate groups, hackers, viruses, solar flares, a growing list of European, Asian, Central & South American countries, Africa, NBC, and of course Y2K Doomers. Now let's add those darn hockey stick swingin Canadians. At this rate the Slick one will probably dodge this one too. NOT!!!

Please forgive me if you should be on this list and are not. Any omission is purely an oversight, and not meant to offend any group or organization.

-- stillcounting (bill@tinfoil.com), November 18, 1999.


HOW ABOUT THIS:

That's right, the United States. The Parliment fingered its southern neighbour yesterday as the greatest single foreign threat to Canada's economy in a new report on the impact of the Y2K computer bug.

Although it gets high marks for Y2K readiness, the US apparently has three strikes against it: It is Canada's largest trading partner, it is highly technology-reliant and its computers are heavily integrated with Canadian networks.

"The US economy is IT-intensive and therefore inherently vulnerable to IT failures," according to a government report.

"It is also very important to Canada, both in terms of our trade relations and in terms of extensive Y2K-related linkages," said the 25-page report by the Canadian Department of Commerce's Economics and Statistics Administration.

As a result, the US poses a far greater economic danger to Canada than any other Group of Seven country, Mexico, China, the former Soviet republics or Saudi Arabia, according to the report.

The Commerce Department applauded Canada for working hard to prepare for potential Y2K computer problems, adding that this has greatly reduced the potential risk to the United States. U.S. officials add they have no evidence there will be "a foreign shock."

-- Taz (Tassie123@aol.com), November 18, 1999.


HOW ABOUT THIS:

That's right, the United States. The Parliment fingered its southern neighbour yesterday as the greatest single foreign threat to Canada's economy in a new report on the impact of the Y2K computer bug.

Although it gets high marks for Y2K readiness, the US apparently has three strikes against it: It is Canada's largest trading partner, it is highly technology-reliant and its computers are heavily integrated with Canadian networks.

"The US economy is IT-intensive and therefore inherently vulnerable to IT failures," according to a government report.

"It is also very important to Canada, both in terms of our trade relations and in terms of extensive Y2K-related linkages," said the 25-page report by the Canadian Department of Commerce's Economics and Statistics Administration.

As a result, the US poses a far greater economic danger to Canada than any other Group of Seven country, Mexico, China, the former Soviet republics or Saudi Arabia, according to the report.

The Commerce Department applauded the US for working hard to prepare for potential Y2K computer problems, adding that this has greatly reduced the potential risk to Canada. Canadian officials add they have no evidence there will be "a foreign shock."

-- Taz (Tassie123@aol.com), November 18, 1999.


OK - OK.....

Now calm down.

If we're non-compliant, what's the worse that could happen?

We sink into the ocean, Canada falls south and merges with Mexico, and you guys get a suntan - finally. And all those da*m hockey rings go back to being good little farm ponds like they are supposed to be in the first place.

Or are you worried that you'd float free and go running into Russia?

It's all hype and propaganda - don't worry, be happy; the US is entirely compliant, you - on the other hand, with your contingency planning and military getting ready and all that "existing" winter storm base - you are the real threat - and that threat might be worse in French too if you please.....

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 18, 1999.


Robert

"And all those da*m hockey rings go back to being good little farm ponds like they are supposed to be in the first place."

So true

also if the US brewerys have problems then the US can get real beer :o)

-- brian (imager@home.com), November 18, 1999.



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