Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-028

Daily Brief

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

DOB06-028 - 9 February 2006

News

Volunteers search for missing fisherman
On February 8, volunteers joined in the search for a missing lobster fisherman in the Pennant Harbour area of Nova Scotia. Some debris has been found that may be the wreckage of the lost vessel.

Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) vessels and military aircraft were on the scene on February 8. Halifax Regional Municipality search and rescue crews are searching the province’s south shore just west of Halifax.
(Source: cbc.ca, 8 February 2006)
Source article

Hydro One restoring power
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-027, on February 8, Hydro One reported that it had restored power to 96,800 of the approximately 100,000 customers around the Georgian Bay and in the southwestern Ontario areas who lost electricity as a result of severe storm conditions.

Favourable weather conditions allowed helicopters to assess damages and the cleared roads permitted crews to redeploy to the hardest hit areas, in particular Owen Sound and Walkerton.
(Source: Hydro One, 8 February 2006)
Source article

Hydro One maintains information on power outages and restoration estimates.

Hydro One owns and operates Ontario's power transmission network.

Mission B.C. officials testing water
On February 8, the CBC reported that district health officials in Mission, British Columbia, released test results that showed the water from Hayward Lake was safe, despite landfill seepage into the lake.

The results of the first round of tests on the water indicated no deterioration in the water's safety or quality. Officials indicated that further tests would be performed. The local population has been instructed to continue drinking bottled water until further test results are received.
(Source: cbc.ca, 8 February 2006)
Source article

In brief

Avian Influenza: Update
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB-027, on February 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in domestic birds in northern Nigeria. The outbreak is thought to be confined to a large commercial farm, located in Kaduna State in the northern part of the country, where thousands of chickens were kept in battery cages.

The WHO indicated that it is ready to respond to requests for support from Nigeria , including assessment teams and the provision of essential supplies and equipment.
(Source: World Health Organization, 8 February 2006)
Source article

The Public Health Agency of Canada provides information on avian influenza.

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.

Any suspected criminal activity should be reported to local law enforcement organizations. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (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.

Some hyperlinks in the PSEPC Daily Brief direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act. Users should be aware that these sources are only available in the language in which they are written.