Counter-terrorism
conference hears of threat
to province's oil and gas industry
|
Bob McDonald, Heather Forsyth and Tony Coles, Nancy Southern |
Three months before the September 11th terrorist attacks, two foreign men who said they were engineers walked into a massive ATCO natural gas plant on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
Shortly after September 11, intelligence sources determined the two men were spies "capable of posing a threat to Canada."
The incident, combined with the US terrorist attack, resulted in the Alberta government quickly initiating an evaluation of its own emergency preparedness.
That's why 350 government, police, fire, ambulance and industry people attended the Crisis Management: An Alberta Perspective conference in Calgary in November.
Some of the highlights included:
- unveiling of a
pro-active, intelligence-led counter-terrorism
strategy involving government, law enforcement, fire,
health and industry. - news that the
Alberta Disaster Services Branch was being
recreated as Emergency Management Alberta to coordinate
all activities around preparing for responding to and recovering
from emergencies in the province. - an address by
Premier Ralph Klein and a keynote address
from Tony Coles, the former deputy mayor of New York
City who worked under Rudolph Giuliani following the
September 11th attacks.
"This process is about keeping Albertans safe," said Solicitor General Heather Forsyth. "Security is everyone's responsibility. We are asking citizens to be aware of unusual activity that could be linked to a security threat. Like Crime Stoppers, they would report this activity to their local police. A phone call can set into action an immediate series of steps from analysis and threat assessment, to notification and response."
Municipal Affairs Minister Guy Boutilier, the other conference host, said the meeting is the next step in integrating the provincial crisis management process with municipal government, the private sector and other first responders.
"By working with our key stakeholders, our crisis management process will meet our needs and provide an acceptable level of comfort and security for our citizens," he said.
Nancy Southern, CEO of ATCO Ltd., told the conference the incident involving the two foreign men has resulted in tighter security measures at ATCO and other oil and gas plants.
Tours of plants are carefully monitored. Visitors are given background checks and must provide photo identification. At many plants such tours have been discontinued.
Al Palmer, the executive director of Security Operations for the Solicitor General, said the ATCO case was cause for concern.
"I'm in the security business, and I was concerned," he said. "But I do have to say that the energy industry has been particularly diligent. I have looked at a lot of their facilities and they are extremely diligent in the safety and security of their facilities and their staff."
Bob McDonald, also with Security Operations, will be following up on the conference business with Alberta police services, public and private business organizations, Alberta government departments and agencies, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta.
