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Wednesday, December 8, 1999

Army set for Y2K battle

By MARK DUNN, Parliamentary Bureau Defence Minister Art Eggleton tried to reassure Canadians yesterday "scary" scenarios aren't going to rock Canada when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve.

Just in case though, 25,000 troops will be on standby to respond to emergencies that may arise as a result of Y2K, including power outages that could leave cities in darkness.

"You plan for the worst but hope for the best," Eggleton said outside the Commons.

He's one of eight ministers who have been ordered by Prime Minister Jean Chretien to remain in Ottawa Dec. 31 in case all hell breaks loose because of Y2K problems.

As the Sun reported yesterday, Chretien's government will be on full Y2K alert and ready to invoke the Emergencies Act if the need arises.

Eggleton said it would be "highly unlikely" for the Emergencies Act to be set in motion and warned against exaggerating the potential for scenarios such as mass suicides and crackpots who may want to blow up something.

"I think you have to be realistic about this and not paint scary scenarios that are just not going to happen," said Eggleton.

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-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 08, 1999

Answers

Eggleton said it would be "highly unlikely" for the Emergencies Act to be set in motion...

Then why bother having those troops? Actions speak louder than words.

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), December 08, 1999.

"You plan for the worst but hope for the best," Eggleton said outside the Commons.

When they say it thats okay, if we say it we are peddling doom.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), December 08, 1999.

"You plan for the worst but hope for the best," Eggleton said outside the Commons.

Mmmmm, yes.

And where does the scenario for, "the worst" come from - thin air? Imagination? Wild guesswork? Oh, so we have a potential problem?

-- paul leblanc (bronyaur@gis.net), December 08, 1999.