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February 14, 2013 - 8:07 AM
MONTREAL - There will be no zombie apocalypse in Quebec next week.
The provincial government has stepped in to cancel plans for a zombie-themed emergency training exercise.
Participants at an annual symposium on civil security had been planning to use a hypothetical zombie attack to test emergency preparedness.
Such a theme has been used elsewhere. The logic behind it is to use something that can never actually occur, as opposed to a flood or an ice storm, because that way emergency-preparedness officials might think of new problems and solutions.
News of the plan had elicited many guffaws this week, along with some complaints about wasteful government spending.
So now the provincial cabinet has stepped in. Public Security Minister Stephane Bergeron says he has ordered a change of plans.
The new scenario will simulate a flood.
Bergeron says he decided to make the change after discussing it with others in the department.
In a statement, he says the zombie workshop had overshadowed the serious goal of its exercise and it was best to change it.
The idea of a zombie apocalypse even made its way to the House of Commons on Wednesday, where the NDP asked the Conservatives about the country's level of zombie preparedness.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird assured that "Canada would never be a safe haven for zombies."
Similar zombie scenarios have been used in exercises in the United States and B.C.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013