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How Secure is Canada's Energy Infrastructure?
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How Secure is Canada's Energy Infrastructure? http://www.edelsonlaw.ca/
Love it or hate it, the classified "Wiki"-leaked cables have inspired a good deal of public debate. One cable that drew particularly significant attention related to various physical assets located in Canada, and elsewhere, deemed "critical" to the United States. While the term “critical infrastructure” generally incorporates various sectors, including transportation, finance, and health care, when concerns related to national security or terrorism arise, the sector at the forefront of everyone’s mind is energy. Perhaps this is because the sector incorporates nuclear power plants and other high-visibility targets, or perhaps it is because the sector underpins all other critical infrastructure. http://www.edelsonlaw.ca/
The question that arose as a result of this newly leaked information was whether or not the United States should be concerned about the physical protection measures and response capabilities in place in Canada to secure the assets deemed critical to their national security. The answer I gave in a recentinterview with the Globe and Mail, put simply, was no. However, this comment is subject to certain nuances – particularly that while we are doing an adequate job of securing critical assets, we can do a whole lot better. http://www.edelsonlaw.ca/
The main problem currently facing the overall security of Canadian energy infrastructure is a lack of proactive, forward-thinking, and timely government leadership, combined with reticence on the part of industry to share crucial information related to its asset vulnerabilities. This is compounded by the fact that there is a dichotomy presented between the goals of security personnel and of those in industry. Security spending, which is essentially allocating cost of future risk, has a negative effect on businesses’ bottom line. As such, security spending within industry can sometimes seem an unnecessary luxury. http://www.edelsonlaw.ca/
Thank You http://www.edelsonlaw.ca/