PART ONE- INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Central Emergency Headquarters here at Canadian Forces Station CARP. I only regret that the circumstances of your being here were not so onerous.

The security classification of this briefing is exSECRET. I must also remind you that you are all subject to the provisions of the Officials Secrets Act.

This means that under no circumstances are you to discuss anything that you see, read, hear or do in this facility with anybody not having a proper security clearance and without a need to know. You should also be aware that the current Canadian Civil Alert System status is at exSIMPLE ALERT. You may recall from previous briefings that this level of alert is declared when intelligence assessments indicate that the threat of a nuclear attack is a distinct probability.

My name is Dave Peters. I am Emergency Planning Canada’s Director of Emergency Operations Coordination and as such I am the federal official responsible for the civil operational readiness of most of the emergency government facilities across the country. Here at the CEGHQ I am the manager of the Emergency Government Operations Centre which means that I am responsible for collecting, collating, analyzing and briefing on non-military casualties and the infrastructure damage situation. This information comes from a variety of other sources including the military, US, NORAD and NATO facilities and other Canadian CoG shelters across the country.

As well as presenting this information to the War Cabinet and associated ministers and senior officials, departmental and agency officials such as yourselves will also be briefed on the most current situation so that you can fulfill your analysis and advice-to-ministers roles. Through your department heads you will be expected to keep the EmGovSitCen appraised of the results of your analysis and any other pertinent information that you may come across.

During the next hour will briefly describe the general potential impact of a large scale nuclear attack on North America and brief you on Canada’s system of emergency government facilities that is the backbone of the Continuity of Government Program.

As you are no doubt aware from the preparatory briefings you have been given and from media reports, the international situation has rapidly deteriorated over the past year or so since the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan just over two years ago. The conflict has spread to many neighbouring countries including Turkey. NATO HQ has begun deploying forces to that country in compliance with previously agreed plans. The Soviet Union apparently sees this as a provocation and has responded by intensifying its military buildup in Central Europe as well as on the North and South flanks. It has also begun flying large numbers of manned bombers to the edges of our NORAD Air Identification Zones causing repeated scrambling of US and Canadian interceptor aircraft. Soviet surface navel vessels are reported to be at a high degree of war readiness and most of those stationed at Black Sea bases are currently redeploying to more open waters.

As I noted previously, these activities are considered to be serious enough for NATO member governments to have begun increasing the readiness activities of our nations and for the Government of Canada to activate the Canadian Civil Alert System and to declare exSIMPLE ALERT. This level of preparedness requires activation of our CoG Emergency Government facilities across the country to a completely manned state and that all assigned officials be fully briefed on the system and their responsibilities within it, which is why you are here.

Once I have completed the Threat and Continuity of Government parts of this presentation I will take a few minutes to describe some aspects of the facility operating routine, its security features and necessary movement restrictions. After that you will be escorted to your respective departmental and agency offices for more detailed briefings on your particular assignments. As we have minimal administrative support at this facility most of us have been assigned secondary duties. While some of these tasks are rather menial, I would ask that you carry them out cooperatively and in as cheerful a manner as you can in the interests of our all getting along in a crowded and highly stressed situation at least for the duration of our having to be here. After your departmental briefings please report to the cafeteria where the Station Admin Officer will assign your specific support duties and to introduce you to your supervisor.

Time permitting, I will take a limited number of questions at the end of my presentation.

PART TWO – PRESENTATION ON THREAT, EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS/ATTACK & CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT (unscripted, overhead projection slide presentation – about 45 minutes long)

PART THREE – CEGHQ/CFS CARP OPERATING ROUTINE ESSENTIAL INFORMATIOM (about 12 minutes long)

Shifts

Most departmental and agency officials will generally work a 12½ our shift. They will take their meals before and after their shifts, and operations permitting, will be able to take 20 minutes to a half an hour for a meal at mid shift. At the end of their shift they will schedule about a half an hour for a handover to their replacement.

Meals

Meals will be available for 1½ hours four times a day at 0600, 1200, 1800 and 2400 hours. Regrettably loitering in the cafeteria cannot be permitted due to limited space available. For about the first week or so most meals will be fresh rations. After that we will all be eating military hard rations; however at least they will be heated by our military cooks and eaten in the cafeteria.

Personal Telephone Calls

Personal calls to and from the outside will be very limited (mostly to emergencies) and supervised by the security staff. Censorship will be in effect. No personal telephone call can be made from other than the telephone booths on the 300 level. You will be paged should the Admin Officer permit an incoming call. Requests to make an outgoing call should also be made through the Admin Officer.

Family Preparedness

I hope you made good use of the family preparedness packages we distributed to your departments six weeks ago to make provision for the safety of your families. The family contact official is the Admin Officer.

Message Preparation

There are basically two means of communication to government official on the outside. The telephone system is expected to be reasonably reliable but call must be kept as short as possible. This is because damage to the telephone network, especially in the vicinity of targeted areas will be extensive and rerouting will significantly reduce the systems capacity. As well most teletype traffic will use landlines as opposed to the emergency radios network. Almost all traffic will be in the form of telegraph-type messages. You will either print or type outgoing messages and have them brought to the Message Centre which is in room 405B. The security classification of the message will determine whether they require encryption prior to transmission.

Loudspeaker Announcements

From time-to-time and at any time, the loudspeaker system will be used to pass on important safety, security, administrative and operational announcements. Please listen up when these occur.

Security

The security passes that you have been issued must be worn about the neck and be visible at all times. Due to the fact that there may be almost 600 people occupying this building, unnecessary movement about the facility must be kept to a minimum. Please constrain yourselves to the duty, administrative and other locations specifically listed on your passes. Military Police will be enforcing this policy. Under no circumstances will anyone be permitted in security areas above the classification listed on their passes. All firearms and knives with blades over two inches long must be turned over to the Military Police ASAP.

Smoking and Drinking in the Facility

Smoking is of course permitted in the facility. Please use the government supplied ashtrays and be considerate of you work and bunkmates. Drinking is not permitted in any part of the facility. Any hard liquor, wine or beer discovered will be confiscated and destroyed. Soft drinks, candy bars, cigarettes, etc., will be sold in the CANEX store at nominal prices while supplies last. Hoarding will not be permitted.

Hygiene/Medical/Dental

We have plenty of water from two deep wells. We also have lots of hot water and numerous showers and hand-washing basins. In consideration of the tight quarters please make regular use of them. Unless it is an emergency situation, those needing medical or dental assistance should make an appointment through the Admin Office. Tranquillizers and sleeping pills will be available on prescription. Those with special medication needs should see the Medical Officer ASAP. No unauthorised intoxicating drugs will be permitted in the facility. Any found will be confiscated immediately.

Laundry/Clothing

We have no stockpiles of clothing and personal grooming or hygiene supplies. Hopefully, as previously instructed you have brought with you sufficient supplies of such items to last you the next 30 days or so. Limited laundry facilities are available. You will have to book them through the Admin Office. Dry cleaning services are not available.

Human Reliability/Behavior

People unaccustomed to functioning in highly stressed situations, especially under confined and crowded conditions may begin to behave abnormally or erratically. Under the present circumstances this can be very distracting and even dangerous not only in terms of doing your job but also in relation to interacting with your fellow occupants. Please keep an eye on each other and report strange behavior of any type to Military Police or to the Admin Officer. If you yourself feel that you are experiencing psychological difficulties please see the Medical Officer ASAP.

Stand Down Procedure

In the event of a de-escalation of the situation and a subsequent reduction in the level of Civil Alert promulgated, a phased orderly reduction in staff will be implemented. You supervisor will notify you of the details including when you will be debriefed prior to being permitted to leave the facility.

That is all for now. Please remember to report to the Admin Office after you have been briefed by your departmental supervisor.

There is time for a few questions which I will attempt to answer as best I can. Good luck to us all.