Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB05-216

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.

DOB05-216 - November 10, 2005

News

Possible tornado in Hamilton, Ontario
Environment Canada is determining if a severe storm, which caused a loss of power to approximately 4,000 homes on November 9, was a tornado. The storm also tore the roof off a Hamilton elementary school, slightly injuring two students. The City of Hamilton has stated that essential personnel with the City of Hamilton and Horizon Utilities worked overnight to continue cleanup efforts and restore power. Horizon Utilities reports that power has been restored to a vast majority of its customers, with only 37 customers remaining affected.
(Source: CBC News, Hamilton, November 10, 2005)
Click here for the source article
Click here for the source article

According to The Atlas of Canada, more than 70 tornadoes per year strike populated regions of Canada. Every province is subject to the risk of tornadoes, but the risk is highest in southern Ontario. The extreme southern part of the Prairies receives the second largest number. For more information on tornadoes in Canada, click here.

Global influenza meeting concludes with action plan
Further to the story reported in PSEPC Daily Brief DOB05-215, delegates attending the influenza pandemic summit in Switzerland have concluded their discussions by identifying the key elements of a global action plan to control avian influenza in animals and limit the threat of a human influenza pandemic. The delegates also agreed that there is an urgent need for financial resources for countries already affected by avian influenza and for those countries most at risk of experiencing infection.
(Source: World Health Organization, November 9, 2005)
Click here for the source article

To learn more about the summit, view background documents, and read presentations and speeches, click here.

In brief

DART team might return to Canada soon
According to the commander of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), the 217-member DART team might soon be going home as a result of the increasing presence of aid agencies and non-governmental organizations in Pakistan’s earthquake-affected regions. The team has given medical care to over 4,000 patients and produced more than one million litres of potable water since mid-October.
(Source: CTV.ca, November 9, 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.