There's a new article in the Ottawa Citizen about documents obtained under Canada's "Access to Information Act." A report obtained under the Act warns the Canadian government to be ready to invoke the federal Emergencies Act. The link--

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/national/981212/2098082.html

"Martial Law" Rushed for Y2K Chaos

I wonder what kind of surprises the U.S. government is planning for us in 1999?

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), December 16, 1998

Answers

Hi Kevin! Many breaking details of the Canada martial law, and US martial law, are on the thread Feds Prepared To Take Over:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000H iK

Not many people responded, and our Canadians barely stirred! For me, imagining curfews, rationing, tanks and soldiers in the streets is a "difference" worth noting. Sometimes, when thinking of the angry mobs rioting, the spread of fire, garbage, tempers, looting, abuse, etc. I'm thankful the troops will be around to keep order. But can they? They'll be vastly outnumbered, and the military is failing at their own Y2K remediation. Can they really help? I also fear that, once martial law has been in effect for some time, several American freedoms will be lost for good.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 16, 1998.

"Not many people responded, and our Canadians barely stirred! For me, imagining curfews, rationing,..."

Leska, the latest news on Canadian martial law is simply that the Canadian govt. is finally getting its act together with this ACT, which wasn't finished and now needs to be honed in the face of Y2K. Canadians know and always have expected the govt. to invoke that law in times of national emergency. This isn't anything to lose sleep over yet. What I'm real curious about and can't wait to see is what the "guidebook" will say. If it's ever published to the public.

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), December 16, 1998.

Chris, thanks, you're the one who does respond!

This just in from Y2Knewswire.com:

CANADA CONSIDERS MARTIAL LAW
We've been called "radicals" for supposing the United States is going to declare Martial Law before the Summer of 2000. In fact, this is one of our most certain predictions: it's inevitable!

Canada realizes this, and they're now discussing their own Martial Law plans. This Ottawa Citizen report says, "The federal government should consider invoking the Emergencies Act, the successor to the War Measures Act, if the millennium bug causes widespread chaos, according to newly obtained government documents."

You can bet a similar report has already been sent to the White House, too. But instead of making it public, the White House is following their best Y2K strategy: "Keep the American people in the dark as long as possible."

"In the worst case, we should consider the Emergencies Act a potential source of special powers," urged documents prepared by government in July.

The news report also mentions Canada's Operation Abacus: "Several months ago the Canadian Forces were told to prepare for the biggest peacetime deployment of troops ever in case computer failures caused by the Year 2000 problem disrupted key services. The plan, dubbed Operation Abacus, also involves the development of rules governing the use of force by soldiers in case they are called upon to assist police in dealing with emergency incidents."

Read the report at:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/national/981212/2098082.html

Another report from the Nando Times says, "According to the paper Canadian troops have already been advised to prepare for what would be the greatest peacetime deployment of soldiers in case of unrest or other troubles due to the computer bug."

Read it at:
http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/121398/info1_27942.html

TROOPS ON THE STREETS, EH?
You bet. Six months ago, the idea was called "loony." Today it's fact. Canada *will* have troops on the street to help with Y2K. Y2KNEWSWIRE says the United States will have the same thing, too. It's only a matter of time before the occupation is announced.

But this need not be seen as some kind of ominous takeover of American cities by the military. We don't think it's that at all. Rather, most people are going to be begging for the military to show up and bring them food, water and other supplies. They'll gladly suspend the Constitution if it means getting fed.

Naturally, those people who prepare early won't have to depend on the Red Cross, National Guard and the U.S. military to bring them emergency rations.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 16, 1998.

" White House is following their best Y2K strategy: "Keep the American people in the dark as long as possible."

Well Leska, the way the Americans react when the words "martial law" are mentioned, I can't say I really blame the White House for not uttering those words. Read again your own reaction ;)

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), December 16, 1998.

folks, for what it's worth, I forwarded that news article to a friend of mine who is a partially disabled Canadian armed forces veteran...here, with his permission, is his response:

(sorry about the formatting)

----------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the article.

It actually gave me a bit of a laugh as our Armed Forces is in such sad shape that they couldn't muster enough men and women to do anything on a national basis even if they use the reserves.

Maybe that the Government will smarten up because of this and start doing something positive for the service people. We actually have servicemen in the Armed Forces that don't earn enough and end up having to go on welfare. The governments since Trudeau have not treated the Armed Forces very well at all and they might be faced with divided loyalties.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

as you can see, the Canadians are going to have an interesting time of it...

Arlin Adams

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), December 16, 1998.

In the reports, military officials also raise concern that their ability to help out if the millennium bug causes widespread problems relies heavily on Canada's electrical, transportation, food and water and sewage systems having their own Year 2000 problems under control: "The ability of the (Canadian Forces) to provide civil assistance is highly dependent on the state of preparedness of these infrastructure items since the CF, like everyone else, is highly dependent on smooth delivery of these supplies and services," the documents state. "Without aggressive action in these industrial and service sectors, the (Canadian Forces) may not be able to make a significant impact across the nation as a force of last resort."

Doesnt this apply to the U.S. too?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 16, 1998.

# # # 19981216

( Diane ) Doesn't this apply to the U.S., too?

That's a, "Duh!!"

Of course it would have too apply!

What I ( and citizens attending my public forums ) can't figure out, is WHY ARE WE HEARING NOTHING ( PUBLICLY ) ABOUT THIS "INEVITABLE" SCENARIO.

Makes folks very skittish with cynicism about ugly prospects when it does go public. May be it won't? It might be "sprung" on the populace by surprise and in full force?

The element of "surprise" could be a perceived required premise for "effectiveness."

It is certainly a curious situation we have in the US. Why on earth does it appear that the British, Canadian, New Zealand and Autralians seem to be the only nations on the planet that seem to "Get It?"

I'm feeling like a "bug," right now ... get that fly-swatter away from me ...

Regards, Bob Mangus # # #

-- Robert Mangus (rmangus@mail.netquest.com), December 16, 1998.

Leska, I think that the reason more Canadians haven't responded is that we're really not all that afraid of our armed forces. Most of the work that our armed forces have done since WW2 is that of "peace-keeping". They are trained to not fire without d**m good reason and despite some recent scandals, have done a very good job at doing just that. They are also trained to do some very unpleasant work. A man I met who was sent to Bosnia told me that one of the first tasks they had was digging up mass graves, so that the dead could be identified and re-buried with ceremony and dignity. He still has nightmares,BTW. Besides, like Chris stated, we know that the country is far too big for the forces to do anything that we don't really want them to. I'd think that would be even more true in the US, where a much greater percentage of the populace is armed. Also, we are accustomed to having our forces help, as in the Quebec/Ontario ice storm and the Manitoba floods.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), December 16, 1998.

Sheesh Bob, Of course it's a "Duh." Back off.

We ALL wonder what kind of surprises the U.S. government is planning for us in 1999. Question is, where do we look for clues to U.S. Martial Law plans (besides the obvious), and military intentions, etc.?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 16, 1998.

Look for clues in Presidential Decision Directive 63

-- (qpwo@eiru.ty), December 17, 1998.