INDY Committee Report
If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
The public sector plays a key role in supplying essential and public services to Canadians and Canadian industry, as well as providing leadership and support for resolving the Year 2000 challenge. The Committee had an opportunity to review Year 2000 preparedness with representatives of Canadian municipalities, two representatives of provincial governments, and representatives of the federal government. Overall, all levels of government seem to be tackling the Year 2000 issue in a dedicated and conscientious manner.
Municipal government is the first order of government, providing many key infrastructure and services such as water and wastewater, fire protection and often police services (although in many municipalities the last is provided by the RCMP or the provincial police). Municipal governments are the first level of government responsible for emergency preparedness measures in the event of emergencies related to the Year 2000. They are also responsible for a wide range of other services such as snow removal from municipal streets and the collection and disposal of refuse.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), which represents approximately 630 municipal governments from every province and territory, explained that it had only recently begun preliminary investigations on the Year 2000 issue. The Committee also heard that the Year 2000 problems were very different for larger municipalities and smaller communities. Larger municipalities have complex systems needing a thorough review and remediation is a major challenge. Smaller communities should have fewer problems. Many of their Year 2000 problems can be solved with new software and hardware, except for the control systems found mainly in water and wastewater services.
The FCM noted that large cities are well aware of the Year 2000 problem. These cities are solving the problem and expect to be completed before the end of 1999. The total investments of municipal governments in this area amount to billions of dollars; municipalities are spending up to $150 million and Ottawa-Carleton has already spent $60 million. Large municipalities will hire extra staff to be in a state of alert on the eve of the year 2000 and will be able to manually override any automated systems that fail.
A potential area of concern is with smaller communities. These may have a technically simpler task to become Year 2000 compliant but may lack both awareness of the diverse aspects of the problem and the necessary expertise. One means of alleviating this problem is for larger cities to support smaller communities. For example, the city of Calgary's experts are sharing information directly with smaller Alberta communities and also on their Internet site.
Although the FCM is not comfortable with the status of municipalities with respect to resolving the Year 2000 problem, it has no great anxiety. It will continue to stress the importance of the Year 2000 problem to its members. The Committee heard the Year 2000 problem was forcing many municipalities to prepare or update their emergency preparedness plans.
The representatives of the Association of Police Chiefs (APC) were unable to attend and instead provided a written brief. This indicated that large police services are well on the way to meeting internal Year 2000 compliance and several medium to small services have already done so. Police agencies have emergency disaster plans that are tested regularly. Most medium and large police services have set up committees to work with local groups and organizations to mitigate the impact of large-scale failure of services. APC was confident that, with the help of provincial and federal authorities, comprehensive emergency preparedness plans will be in place before the new millennium. The APC is concerned with the impact, such as hoarding and civil disobedience, of a negative news campaign related to the potential consequences of the Year 2000 problem and thus stressed the importance of keeping Canadians informed of the true situation.
C. Water and Wastewater Services
The Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA), whose almost 250 members include municipalities, provincial and federal government departments, consultants and manufacturers, explained the Year 2000 preparations being taken by water and wastewater services. The problems presented by the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA), with 400 systems in Ontario (30% of systems), were said to be representative of the situation throughout Canada. The provision of water and wastewater services is controlled and managed by embedded systems. Teams are in place to look at Year 2000 problems and the inventory phase is completed. The assessment and validation of client systems is currently proceeding across Ontario. When Year 2000 non-compliant systems are found, the solutions range from a temporary fix (such as date change) to total replacement of the system. The OCWA's plans call for full Year 2000 compliance well before the end of 1999, with staff trained in manual operations and ready to operate the systems manually as well as services operating on local electrical power generators. In addition, OCWA is working with other municipal service sectors. The letter received from the Association of Police Chiefs indicated a concern that the testing and upgrading of water and wastewater services in large and small municipalities will not be completed on time. The Committee echoes this concern.
Provincial governments provide a wide range of goods and services to Canadians, including health care, education, social assistance, support and maintenance of provincial roads, and judicial and correctional services. As well, provincial governments are the second level of government responsible for emergency preparedness measures in the event of Year 2000 related emergencies.
The Committee was fortunate to have witnesses from two representative provinces, Alberta and New Brunswick, explain their Year 2000 preparations. These provinces started their well-developed Year 2000 programs in the 1995-96 timeframe to ensure that the essential services they provide to their citizens will continue uninterrupted. Both provinces are taking the Year 2000 problem very seriously and indicated that they will be ready on time. As well, they are working on contingency plans and emergency preparedness.
The New Brunswick provincial government confirmed that it has made good progress in addressing its large mission-critical applications, with a number already completed and the remainder in progress and on schedule. The government's other mission-critical applications and technology infrastructure will be repaired, replaced, or supported by a contingency plan prior to November 1999. The province has already informed municipalities and regional hospital corporations of their responsibilities with respect to the Year 2000 problem.
The Alberta provincial government stated that the last of its mission-critical systems would be ready by March 1999. The interface with the 14 systems that work with the federal government and the 3 systems that work with other provinces, mainly related to health care, are being addressed. Embedded chips are a high priority.
The federal government provides a wide range of services for Canadians. Individual Canadians receive benefits and services such as employment insurance and old age security, while the business community receives numerous services such as Customs. Canadians expect their federal government to provide essential functions such as assistance in the event of an emergency, national defence, and federal policing. The Committee was informed that, as of the end of November 1998, the federal government's 48 government-wide mission-critical functions were at an overall readiness status of 74%. Contingency plans for government-wide mission-critical functions are to be in place by December 31, 1998; by June 30, 1999, departments are expected to have completed total live environment testing. The government is co-operating extensively with the other jurisdictions on the Year 2000 challenge and federal-provincial-territorial meetings are taking place regularly. As well, the government plans to meet with infrastructure service providers, such as the oil and gas industry, to learn about their state of readiness.