The federal government prepared to deploy 30,000 Canadian troops amid fears the arrival of the year 2000 could cripple essential services, shut down public transit and leave northern communities without electricity, newly declassified cabinet records reveal.Blacklock's Reporter says confidential minutes from 1999 show the Liberal government of then-prime minister Jean Chrétien spent $2.5 billion preparing for potential computer failures associated with the Y2K millennium bug.Then-defence minister Art Eggleton told cabinet the Canadian Armed Forces were ready to respond to emergencies triggered by computer systems failing to recognize the change from 1999 to 2000.“Minister Art Eggleton reported the department was prepared to deal with any Y2K-related emergencies,” said minutes of a November 16, 1999 cabinet meeting.“Mr. Eggleton reported that 30,000 troops were on standby of which 14,000 could be immediately mobilized. The remaining 16,000 were mostly reservists.”The records reveal ministers feared widespread disruptions to hospitals, electrical grids, transportation networks and communications systems as computers rolled over to January 1, 2000.Particular concern surrounded isolated northern communities that could be left without outside assistance if power and communications networks failed.“Ministers raised a number of concerns about the continuing risk of Y2K in the health sector as well as the risk for Northern communities should they be cut off from the rest of Canada by communications or power failures,” said the minutes.“It was noted work was underway to determine the extent of the risk in the health sector.”The Y2K scare stemmed from concerns that computer systems using two-digit year formats would interpret 2000 as 1900, potentially causing widespread technical failures..Consultants warned the resulting glitches could trigger cascading shutdowns affecting everything from cash registers and banking systems to air traffic control and electricity distribution.Cabinet discussed the threat at six separate meetings throughout 1999, according to the records.Statistics Canada conducted three nationwide surveys examining whether Canadian businesses were prepared for the millennium changeover.Meanwhile, 146 federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations were ordered to prepare contingency plans in case essential computer systems failed.By the end of the year, virtually every federal organization had submitted its emergency preparations.“Only one contingency plan is not yet received, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation,” cabinet was informed, referring to the Winnipeg-based Crown corporation.Despite the federal preparations, ministers remained concerned about the readiness of provincial governments, hospitals and municipal transit authorities.A cabinet memorandum titled Year 2000 Vulnerabilities warned some healthcare organizations were falling behind.“Components of the health sector are falling behind,” said the document.Cabinet was told hospitals in Prince Edward Island “had not yet made sufficient investments to address their Y2K challenge.”The national blood supply system was also identified as a medium-risk concern, along with provincial prisons, certain airport operations and some ports.Public transit presented another potential problem, particularly in Toronto and Montréal, where ministers feared subway passengers could become trapped underground during New Year's Eve celebrations.“The vast majority of municipal transit systems were about four months behind schedule and were rated as high risk,” said the Vulnerabilities memorandum..Officials also examined the possibility that malfunctioning computer systems could affect nuclear weapons.Then-Treasury Board president Lucienne Robillard assured cabinet an accidental missile launch was extremely unlikely.“An inadvertent launch of nuclear missiles is highly unlikely,” Robillard told ministers.Nevertheless, cabinet concluded the government needed to maintain its preparations.“However it was agreed the government could not afford to relax and that it would be important to ensure essential services continue to be delivered to Canadians,” said the minutes.At its final meeting of 1999 on December 16, cabinet received a more reassuring assessment of the potential threat to Canada's critical infrastructure.“From a security perspective the overall threat to our infrastructure is low but threats from hackers and viruses are more serious,” ministers concluded.The government also prepared for the possibility Parliament would have to be recalled on short notice if a major emergency developed.Then-government House leader Don Boudria reported MPs had been briefed on the Y2K preparations and arrangements were in place to summon them back to Ottawa.“Government House Leader Don Boudria noted all Members of Parliament had been briefed on the state of preparedness for Y2K and that a system was in place to recall Parliament if there was a requirement to do so as a result of any critical Y2K issues,” said the minutes.But then-deputy prime minister Herb Gray remained concerned about the government's ability to communicate during a national emergency.Gray questioned whether ministers travelling outside Ottawa could maintain contact with the capital if electrical or telecommunications networks failed.“The Deputy Prime Minister expressed concern about the ability of ministers to communicate with Ottawa from the regions, especially if a Y2K-related emergency were to interrupt power or other facilities,” said the minutes.“He noted that during an ad hoc meeting of ministers the previous week, the cabinet room’s secure phone system had not worked properly.”Despite the extensive preparations, the arrival of January 1, 2000 passed without the widespread computer failures and infrastructure shutdowns feared by government officials.The newly released records provide a detailed account of the extraordinary military, financial and emergency measures Ottawa had prepared for a technological crisis that largely failed to materialize.
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