Ladies and Gentlemen
The beautiful summer weather has returned. But if you
look at the color of the leaves in your neighbourhood, there is a message there.
The big news in Midland this week was the ransomeware
attack that started on September 1st. In summary, our tech staff
became aware of the problem early in the morning of September 1st.
They found the server data encrypted (unusable) and were presented with a
demand for payment. They isolated all of the Town’s computers and then brought
in resources to assess and recover from the incident. The Town had already made
an arrangement with an “insurance provider” who had the skills and the IT
professionals to negotiate with the attacker and lead the system recovery. As
of today’s date the ransom has been paid, the systems are unlocked and the Town
is back to normal operations. I have to
commend staff and the outside firm for a rapid and professional recovery.
How did it happen? The consultants are now conducting a
forensic investigation. Regardless of what they discover, the fact remains that
all modern municipalities are tied to the internet. And as much as one tries to
build a big impenetrable firewall, if a well-funded attacker wants to break in
they will likely be able to do so. Midland’s experience is one that is occurring
in municipalities and organizations all over North America. We know we can’t shut ourselves off from the internet,
so we must have effective preventive controls combined with recovery plans that
allow the municipality to carry on despite the worst the world can do to us.
The
Week Ahead
Monday the 17th the final Community
Safety Task Force meeting will make its recommendations to go to Council. The meeting is at 1:30 pm at the Town
On Tuesday please join us at Town Hall at 10:00 am
for the Big Brothers Big Sisters flag raising. As I mentioned last week, this
month is BBBS month and features all sorts of events to engage the community.
Wednesday the19th sees another summer
tradition as officers from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Southern
Georgian Bay detachment host a charity BBQ from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at the
downtown Midland station. Proceeds from this event will be donated to the
Canadian Cancer Society. There will be information on site about
programs that the detachment is involved in and an opportunity to speak with our
officers.
Thursday September 20 hosts a special
forum in Barrie on health services for our francophone communities. Midland
currently has about 4% of its residents who claim French as their mother tongue.
I then head down to Queens Park for meetings with two Ministries:
1)
Municipal Affairs and Housing – To discuss
concepts for getting the private sector more involved in building affordable
housing
2)
Tourism, Culture and Sport – To present our
major report on the future of cruising in the Great Lakes - and to advise on
the role that Midland could play
At 7:30 pm “A Day
in the Life” invites Jessica
Vander Kooij to the MCC. Jessica started out as an engaged, popular
student at Huron Park Public School and Midland Secondary School. She was attracted
to the TV industry, attended Canadore College in Broadcasting, did a term with
CHUM TV (“Much Music”, “Cityline” etc.) which led to a full time job including “Breakfast Television”. Today
she is the Executive Producer of
the very popular and highly successful “Property
Brothers” programs on HGTV Canada and HGTV US. She has received an Emmy nomination and the show has won a
Canadian Screen Award for Best
Life Style Program or Series.
On Friday the County will host its Affordable
Housing meeting at 9:00 am, ensuring the proper transfer of housing responsibilities
to the new County Council. Then at 7:00
pm at the MCC it’s the 2018 edition of Art Slam. Quest Art School and Gallery
invites you to be part of a kinetic creative atmosphere as 24 well-known local
artists create art before your eyes. Mingle with artists, vote on the best
pieces and bid on the newly created art. Tickets $35 in advance, $40 at the
door. Available at Quest in the MCC.
Council
Issues Update
Downtown Safety
This week the Task Force will make its recommendations to
Council. Its short term recommendations will be able to be enacted immediately,
with Council’s consent. Other systemic
issues - affordable housing; food insecurity; drug addictions - will be referred
to a new committee that has the time and resources to tackle these issues. With these recommendations enacted we should
see a marked improvement in downtown safety.
Library
Renovations at the Library are still underway. They are
expected to wrap up by September 30th at which time you will see a
different main floor layout and my favourite the new MakerSpace . You can still
drop books off at the Library. If you need to buy bus tickets, please visit the
Town hall.
Gord McKay
The
Year for Forging Our Future - 2018
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