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Prime Minister Confident About Year 2000 Readiness
September 7, 1999
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien issued the following statement to update Canadians on the significant progress that the Government of Canada has made to meet the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer challenge:
"I am proud to say that Canada is a world leader in tackling this challenge. As of today, 99 per cent of the work on essential federal services is complete, including services such as Old Age Security, the Canada Pension Plan, Customs Border Services, GST credits, Employment Insurance, and Child Tax Benefits. The progress reported by key industries such as telecommunications, banking and the utilities is also encouraging.
We are doing well, but we cannot afford to relax. Every organization - large and small - must fix their systems to deal with the date change. The Government of Canada will continue to work with other levels of government, the private sector and the Canadian public to minimize Y2K-related disruptions to services essential to the health, safety, security and economic well-being of Canadians.
We are also monitoring international preparedness for Y2K in order to give Canadians living, travelling or doing business abroad a general indication of other countries' state of readiness. Additionally, continued exchanges of information with other governments about Y2K will help to limit potential problems in our trading relationships.
This is a unique and unprecedented challenge. There is no guarantee that there won't be disruptions, so federal departments and agencies will have back-up plans in place to deal with them. We encourage all levels of government and industry to prepare back-up plans for their areas of responsibility. Hopefully, these plans will never have to be used. However, prudence demands that we be ready just in case.
Getting our country ready for the Year 2000 is serious business. We live in a world brought closer together by a web of computer systems. Our daily activities depend on technology. It is everyone's responsibility - governments and businesses, big and small, as well as individual Canadians, to ensure we are ready."
Year 2000 has become a national priority. It must and it will remain a national priority to ensure that Canada makes a safe and prosperous passage into the new century."
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PMO Press Office: (613) 957-5555
More information on the Year 2000 and federal government readiness is available on the Government of Canada's Info2000 Internet site at http://www.info2000.gc.ca
Additional information can also be obtained by calling the Government of Canada inquiry line at 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232).
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