91社区破解版

Ambulances will run, planes will fly, roads will be cleared and lights will stay on in the Yukon as the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31.

These were the confident accounts given by witnesses to the standing committee on public accounts Friday during hearings assessing the territorial government鈥檚 Y2K preparedness.

Answering MLAs鈥� questions in the legislature were representatives from the Departments of Health and Social Services, and Community and Transportation Services and the Yukon Development Corp. Officials assured committee members that they鈥檙e actively addressing the 2000 problem by identifying and testing critical systems, producing regular status reports and establishing contingency plans.

Serving about 1,200 direct customers in the Mayo, Dawson City and Faro areas, the YDC has budgeted $700,000 and hired a full-time employee to assess, test, certify and replace critical equipment.

Testing and certification is 30-per-cent done and is expected to be completed by June.

While many electrical companies are grappling with interconnected grids, which can potentially create a domino effect, the YDC鈥檚 isolated power grid and the 1997 fire destruction of the Yukon Energy Corporation鈥檚 facilities have helped it become Y2K-compliant.

鈥淚ronically, this is one of the few times where having an isolated electrical system is a benefit,鈥� said YEC president Rob McWilliam.

鈥淭he 91社区破解版 Rapids fire in October 1997 and starting up direct management on January 1, 1998, have solved many of our year 2000 issues, as well as providing severe tests of our contingency plans.鈥�

The control centre and other sub-systems can also be run manually, and critical areas will be staffed by essential personnel on sensitive dates.

The bulk of the YDC鈥檚 sales are to Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd., which is then responsible for distribution to about 12,000 clients who form 90 per cent of the Yukon鈥檚 energy consumers.

The YECL is responsible for assuring its distribution systems are Y2K-compliant. While the company was absent from the hearings, it did issue a press release today confirming it has been extensively testing its generating plants, facilities and equipment in all of its 13 service areas. It expects critical components to be Y2K-ready by June.

The committee also quizzed the Bruce McLennan, deputy minister of Health and Social Services, and Ron Browne, the chief executive officer of 91社区破解版 General Hospital, on their respective agencies鈥� progress.

The government department is evaluating its young offenders custody facility, three long-term care facilities, 14 community-based nursing stations and five group homes within 91社区破解版 and Yukon communities. It expects to be finished in April.

A biomedical maintenance company has also been contracted to review all equipment such as X-ray machines, incubators, defibrillators and ventilators for compliance.

Testing of the hospital鈥檚 laboratory and imaging equipment has proved a greater challenge because of programmed cycles.

鈥淚t is important to understand that there is some equipment that you can鈥檛 test and can鈥檛 roll ahead the date,鈥� said Browne.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all in real-time and running all the time, and so we can鈥檛 roll the dates up to January 1, 2000 and see... It has programmed cycles in it for maintenance, and if we rolled it up to 2000 now to try it out, it would really scramble the maintenance cycles.

鈥淪o yes, it is just the practical reality that we can鈥檛 physically program everything to test that date before it happens, and we do have to rely on compliancy statements from manufacturers and count on that being reliable.鈥�

However, Browne expressed a high confidence in supplier compliance statements.

The hospital plans to fill its fuel storage tanks supplying its heating and incineration systems, and stockpile medical and food supplies. Its building systems can be operated manually, and it has a back-up diesel generator.

One critical outstanding issue is a reliable water supply, as the hospital depends on two lines from the city鈥檚 system.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a simple fact that if their pumps aren鈥檛 operating, then neither of those supply lines to our hospital would be working and we don鈥檛 have a back-up water supply,鈥� said Browne. 鈥淚 assume a hospital can鈥檛 operate without water.鈥�

Despite not having a back-up plan, the CEO thought water would likely be trucked in until the pumps were operational.

He expects the hospital to be fully compliant by September, and added that the new facilities had been constructed with Y2K in mind.

Community and Transportation Services鈥� status report was also quite optimistic. Its main worry lays with hard-to-test embedded chips in its heavy equipment and large machinery, thus making it also reliant on manufacturer and distributor compliance confirmations.

While deputy minister John Cormie saw the problem鈥檚 immediacy as a motivator in testing and emergency planning, he also warned that the historic event鈥檚 uncertainty has left his department highly-dependent on contingency plans.

鈥淓ven with my level of confidence, I do not believe it is realistic to assume that everything will work the way you think it will, so we are putting a lot of efforts into our contingency plan,鈥� said Cormie.

Established services in 22 areas will ensure water, sewer and transportation services to Yukon communities.

Checks are being done on ambulances and large snow removal equipment, and most of the 91社区破解版 airport systems are run manually.

Many speakers stressed that the legislative assembly鈥檚 key role is in public communications and fostering confidence levels.

Said McWilliam: 鈥淚 think that in terms of what this committee or the legislature could do would be to ensure that public information and the public debate around the millennium bug was done in a reasonable fashion to ensure that we don鈥檛 get the type of hysteria that is developing in other areas.鈥�