Angry in the Great White North

When the Navy called the Operations Centre managed by the Ministry, they got no answer:

Navy personnel told the National Post that repeated calls to Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada went unanswered over the long weekend, meaning government supplies could not be accessed before the ship's departure.

When supply officers called emergency officials in Ottawa, the officials were not available, said a senior officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We were calling them all weekend," the officer said. "All we got was voice mail ... [and] they never called back."

Approval from Ottawa was needed before emergency preparedness officials in Halifax would relinquish any of their stockpiled supplies, another senior officer said.

"They told us they couldn't get the supplies together on the long weekend and that they needed approval from Ottawa."

Now this detailed story of voice mail messages is denied by the government agency, claiming that the Navy personnel were calling the wrong number:

Officials in Ottawa, however, said the sailors must simply have been calling the wrong number.

"We have a government operations centre manned 24/7 -- and if someone had called that number we would have coordinated that effort, we would have been in a position to do so," said Lia Quickert, a spokeswoman for Anne McLellan, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. "I can't explain the alleged disconnect."

Emergency Preparedness and Defence officials were working and available all weekend in Ottawa, officials said.

The Government of Canada Operations Centre staff includes three full-time Department of National Defence officers who were available, working and in "constant discussions" with Emergency Preparedness officials that weekend, said Major Luc Gaudet, a DND spokesman.

"I know because I was here all weekend too," he said.

Now fortunately for the people in the disaster area, the Canadian Armed Forces is used to being ignored (accidently or otherwise) by the government:

That left dockyard workers and the ships' crews with only their ingenuity and Department of National Defence credit cards to rely on, raiding naval supply depots and running from one Halifax retailer to another trying to convince store owners to open their doors long enough to sell them what they needed.

Lieutenant (Navy) Kelly McNab, the supply officer on HMCS Toronto, said her crew had to work around the clock to buy and load tonnes of supplies into almost every available space on the ship.

"They were going to local stores and pulling stuff right off the shelves," she said.

First, kudos to the Navy personnel for not taking "No" for an answer (or not taking no answer for an answer) and getting on with the mission. And to the people of Halifax (great town -- I loved living there) who helped out on the long weekend.

But from the government, and in particularly Anne McLellan, a detailed explanation of what happened is required. What phone number were the Navy people calling? Was it the wrong number? If so, why did they have the wrong number? If not, why did they not get a response from operations centre if indeed it is manned 24/7?

When was the last exercise on the system run? Exercises are run in order to sort out these details. The government has run exercises, hasn't it?

Frankly, the Canadian people deserve a detailed analysis of what happened and identification of who dropped the ball. The Opposition has a duty to hold the government accountable and force a public investigation. We are fortunate that this natural disaster did not strike Canada. We are doubly fortunate that this comedy of errors happened now, since we have an opportunity to correct the problems before Canadians are themselves in need of a smoothly operating Operations Centre.

This story strikes at our confidence in the government's ability to respond in a critical situation. That lack of confidence can actually exacerbate the situation in a time of crisis.

Thanks to reader Lorraine Stephenson.