Preparations in Canada are well under way for the Year 2000 computer
glitch, as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police actively set out to convert
all their critical systems for Y2K compliance and raise nationwide
awareness of the problem.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, has — even by U.S.
standards — an extraordinarily large task at hand, and it’s not just
because of the nebulous nature of the Y2K problem. It’s because of the
RCMP’s many responsibilities which, in the U.S., would be handled by at
least 50 separate agencies.
The RCMP is in charge of all local, provincial and federal police
forces except in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Other duties of
the RCMP include protecting the prime minister, conducting criminal
investigations and enforcing immigration and passport laws.
Sgt. Andre Guentin said that the RCMP currently has 94 percent of its
27 mission critical systems compliant and that full compliance among
these systems will be achieved by sometime next month.
“We are very confident that we will be 100 percent compliant by
February of this year,” said Guentin. “We’re not lagging behind
anywhere.”
Credit for the RCMP’s near readiness has gone to the careful planning
of the organization. Superintendent Rick Scott of the Year 2000 Project
team believes that planning is the key to prevent fear and chaos.
“To embrace paranoia is futile. You’ll just scare yourself,” said
Scott. Problems are likely to occur, but with careful planning, we can
reduce the extent of any disruption to normal services.”
To ensure that everything runs smoothly well into next year, annual
leave for all RCMP employees as well as all public servants who perform
“essential services” will not be approved between Dec. 27, 1999, to
March 15, 2000. During this time — considered to be a critical
transition period — the RCMP wants all personnel to be ready to meet
whatever needs arise.
Knowing what situations will occur is difficult to foresee, however.
“With natural disasters, you know what’s going to happen, just not
when,” said Dave Morreau who is in charge of the Year 2000 Project
Office. “With Year 2000, we know when it’s going to happen, we just
don’t know what’s going to happen.”
For example, if the power goes out, what will be done about traffic
lights? Scott said that with the many other problems that could occur,
it would be a waste of the police force to direct traffic. For instance,
crime is something that happens with or without Y2K. If criminals know
that the police force is preoccupied with directing traffic, it could
give them an excuse to break the law. Thus, the RCMP is looking for
other possible solutions to this potential problem.
Another task that the RCMP has taken on is creating awareness among
the Canadian public. One way this has been done is through the use of
surveys. The survey consists of contingency planning information in
which local agencies, such as fire departments, can prepare for upcoming
problems.
According to Guentin, a communication program is also in place for
the general public so it can start preparing for Y2K.
“We’re trying to foster a community awareness so that people can be
prepared,” Guentin said.
Guentin added that it was not the RCMP’s intentions to create any
kind of panic.
“We expect some glitches but nothing major,” he said.
One of the biggest problems Canada will most likely face is the lack
of preparation from other countries. According to the Gartner Group, a
leading firm tracking Y2K preparedness among nations, Canada, along with
the United States and Holland, is 50 percent closer to compliance than
most other nations.
“Things aren’t looking as bad as we anticipated a year ago,” said
Scott. “Since we’re more prepared, it can only get better from here.”
