TORONTO THINKS ITS SAFE
By ROB GRANATSTEIN, CITY HALL BUREAU
AFTER EVERY terrorist attack, the same question is asked: Is Toronto ready?
The firm answer: We think so.
As London ground to a halt under the pressure of bombs on the city's subway and bus system, the alarm bells went off in Toronto.
"On all the available information, there is no heightened risk in Toronto," Mayor David Miller said yesterday.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the city's emergency management team has worked on plans to ensure the city is ready for anything, including a terrorist attack. It has spent tens of millions of dollars city-wide on preparations.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said the response began with early-morning phone calls between himself, Miller, Julian Fantino, provincial commissioner of emergency preparedness, TTC GM Rick Ducharme and other provincial and federal police and security officials.
"I think it's fair to say that any democratic society is a target for this kind of (terrorist) activity," Blair warned. "We can't become complacent but at the same time we monitor these situations very, very closely and there is nothing to suggest we are about to become a target."
The attacks have not altered policing details for this weekend's Molson Indy on the Exhibition grounds, he said, because there is already a strong security presence planned.
"We're being cautious because I think the circumstances overseas demand a prudent response and so we are heightening our presence on the public transportation system," Blair said.
With more than 1 million TTC riders a day, there's a lot at stake.
In the early-morning exchange of phone calls, Ducharme asked if the TTC is vulnerable and if the emergency plan should be started, and was told "absolutely not."
Instead, the TTC put its 10,000 employees on "heightened vigilance" at 6 a.m., 16 special constables were pulled off regular duty to monitor the system for anything unusual, and the afternoon rush had double the usual number of transit enforcement officers.
Ducharme said the TTC depends on the expertise of Toronto Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for advice on how to respond.
This fall, the TTC will conduct a full simulation in downtown Toronto of how to respond to an explosion in a subway tunnel, with full emergency response from police, fire and ambulance services.
"Until you simulate it, that's where you learn where the deficiencies are," Ducharme said.
Toronto does run exercises regularly. The city also introduced a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear team following Sept. 11, and co-ordinated it with Enbridge Gas, Toronto Hydro, other utilities and the army.
Training is done at Toronto Fire's Special Operations Training Centre, on Bermondsey Rd. There is a TTC subway train at the site for emergency workers to test their procedures. There are also a number of underground and highrise facilities for practice.