When the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1999, many citizens of Yorkton, like the rest of the world, sat anxiously before their television sets waiting for the “Millennium Bug” to strike. This “Y 2K Bug” was rumoured to be able to derail computer systems across the world because of their alleged inability to cope with the change in date from the departing millennium to the new one. The threat was serious enough that the Government of Canada had printed literature to help citizens cope should catastrophes occur.
So, how did Yorkton City Hall cope? Here is the story as told by Kelly Kaban, City of Yorkton Computer/Network Systems manager:
The City of Yorkton felt relatively confident in its readiness for Y2K. Most of our computers were either already Y2K compliant, or were patched a year in advance. It was sometimes difficult for people to not get swept up in the “end of the world” fears the media was hyping. It was decided that Council and the department heads would be at City Hall to carry forward the New Year, in case there was a problem. Staff was also on duty that night at various City plants.
As January 1 rolled around for other places in the world hours before it would for us, news reports relaxed any fears or doubts that we had about a potential disaster, freeing everyone at the “City Hall vigil” to celebrate the year 2000 with jubilance. The “vigil” ended after 1 a.m. so everyone could go to his or her respective New Year’s Eve parties.
Source of artwork: the Y2K bug drawn for the 2005 Yorkton History book by Dawn Oehler then CAD Technologist, Engineering Dept. City of Yorkton.
Happy New Year!
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