Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB05-206

PSEPC Daily Brief

The PSEPC Daily Brief is a compilation of summaries of publicly available and PSEPC information concerning critical infrastructure protection and emergency management.

DOB05-206 - October 27, 2005

News

Storm knocks out power to thousands in Quebec
As of October 25, approximately 34,000 people were without electricity in Quebec's Eastern Townships and the Montérégie region after the first major snowstorm of the season hit the province. Hydro-Québec said its crews worked throughout Tuesday and Wednesday to restore service, but heavy wet snowfall was hampering their efforts.
(Source: cbc.ca, October 26, 2005)
Click here for the source article

Avian Influenza: WHO to host H5N1 global strategy meeting
The World Health Organization will hold a meeting entitled "The H5N1 Agenda: Towards a global strategy" at its Geneva headquarters on November 7-9, 2005. In recent weeks, a series of country, regional and international meetings, field missions, and conferences have clarified the H5N1 challenge in many parts of the world. The purpose of this meeting will be to develop a global picture for a comprehensive assessment, and identify the next steps for the control of avian influenza in animals as well as preparedness efforts for a human influenza pandemic.
(Source: World Health Organization, October 26, 2005)
Click here for the source article

For more information on this meeting, go to http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2005/meeting_avian_influenza/
en/index.html.

In brief

Polluted reserve to be evacuated: Update
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB05-205, on October 26, the evacuation of residents of the Kashechewan reserve began as 74 of the sickest residents were flown to Sudbury for medical treatment. Those not requiring hospitalization were settled at a community centre. Media reports suggest the location of the treatment plant's intake pipe, 135 metres downstream from a sewage lagoon, as the cause of the reserve's water problem.
(Source: GLOBEANDMAIL.COM, October 27, 2005)
Click here for the source article (free subscription required)

Additional funding announced for railway crossings
On October 26, Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre announced that the Government of Canada is committing an additional $317,086 to improve safety at railway crossings in Canada. Since 1994, Transport Canada has committed more than $111 million to such projects throughout the country.
(Source: Transport Canada, October 26, 2005)
Click here for the source article

Cyber risk assessment

Over the course of the past 24 hours, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) has not detected any significant new threats or vulnerabilities. No significant incidents with the potential to affect critical infrastructure have been reported. Accordingly, based on the information available to CCIRC, the cyber risk facing Canadian critical infrastructure is assessed as low. Personnel responsible for information, systems and network security should continue to apply appropriate security precautions and monitor their systems.

Recent cyber alerts and advisories issued by CCIRC can be viewed under “Recent analytical releases” at www.psepc.gc.ca/ccirc.

See also...

• The Weather Office
• FAC - Travel Updates

Note to readers

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) collects information related to cyber and physical threats to, and incidents involving, Canadian critical infrastructure. This allows us to monitor and analyze threats and to issue alerts, advisories and other information products. To report threats or incidents, please contact the Government Operations Centre (GOC) at (613) 991-7000 or goc-cog@psepc-sppcc.gc.ca by e-mail.

Unauthorized use of computer systems and mischief in relation to data are serious Criminal Code offences in Canada. Any suspected criminal activity should be reported to local law enforcement organizations. The RCMP National Operations Centre (NOC) provides a 24/7 service to receive such reports or to redirect callers to local law enforcement organizations. The NOC can be reached at (613) 993-4460. National security concerns should be reported to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) at (613) 993-9620.

Links to sites not under the control of the Government of Canada (GoC) are provided solely for the convenience of users. The GoC is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The GoC does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.

Users should be aware that information offered by non-GoC sites not subject to the Official Languages Act, and to which the PSEPC Daily Brief links, might be available only in the language(s) used by the sites in question.