Black Frost

[Nathan]

Military Operations Tied to this event;​

Chapter 1 : Infiltration

Prime Minister Harrington's first year as Prime Minister had been uneventful. With the arrival of May, the cold harsh Canadian winter had begun to subside. Allowing the Prime Minister to take a weekend retreat to his coastal home in Halifax.

His office overlooked the wild Atlantic as it crashed against the rocks. The force of which had left a jagged coastline below. The Prime Minister was working late into the evening as darkness fell on Eastern Canada. The Parliamentary recess had allowed PM Harrington a rare break. Downstairs, his wife Claire was cooking dinner - a rare pleasantry for the couple.

Harrington grew tired as he continued to look over the latest budget bill being drafted by the Minister of Finance. Taking a break, he took his coffee to his window. Looking at the sprawling lights of Halifax along the coast. The towering buildings reflecting against the darkness of the swirling Atlantic.

The tranquillity of the moment was interrupted by the flickering of the office light above. Harrington looked up at the light as it danced into the night - before a loud click brought an end to it's dance.

"Bloody fuses"

Harrington returned to the window. The Prime Minister squinted as the sky was full of stars - at a density never seen before. He searched for the reflection of Halifax - but it was not to be found. The city's lights no longer shining out over the bay.

At that moment, the door of his office flew open with force. His RCMP guards entered with purpose, weapons drawn and armed with powerful torches

"Sir, we are extracting.. Canada is under attack"

The lead officer grabbed Harrington as the men moved out of the office and down the stairs of the residence

"John! John! What's happening" Claire shouted as her personal agent escorted her towards her husband.

"I don't know Sweetheart.. everything will be okay. George what is going on?"

The lead RCMP officer grimaced;

"Unclear at the moment Sir - we received word from HQ - a computer virus has taken over multiple government systems - communications, electrical grid, air traffic control, traffic lights - It's all gone.. We've had to revert back to FM radio for communications"

Harrington paused;

"What? All of it?"

"From Halifax to Esquimalt Prime Minister. We need to get you back to Ottawa - We've sent a urgent request to the RCAF for assistance - a aircraft will meet us at Shearwater but we must go now"

"Indeed" Harrington decreed "We must send word back to Ottawa, the Cabinet and parliament must be convened at the earliest opportunity"

"Yes Sir"

The Prime Minister was bundled into his waiting vehicle. The darkness of Canada only broken by the blue and red lights of the convoy.

 

[Nathan]

It was 3am by the time the convoy made it to Ottawa. Darkness continued to plague the city. Cut only by the lighting of the Prime Minister's convoy against the tall buildings of Downtown Ottawa. As the motorcade rounded the National War Memorial, Parliament hill came into view - pitched in darkness on the right, and the Langevin Block on the right. Headlights from the arrival of local MPS and government ministers temporarily darted across the hill as they answered the recall of Parliament.

The Prime Minister knew the first order of business as he exited the convoy. A emergency meeting of the Cabinet had been established in the Prime Minister's office within Parliament itself. Moving swiftly, he entered into the central block of the hill. Normally brightly light, the Parliament had an eerier feel as lighting was provided only by the torches of the security officers.

As the Prime Minister entered his office, ministers took to their feet;

"Stay sitting, Ladies and Gentleman." Harrington announced "Jimmy, what do we know?"

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Jimmy Green shuffled his papers

"Sir, there have been nation wide blackouts across Canada. Airports were shut, street lights and traffic signals were taken offline. We know of a number of fatalities from the loss of traffic signals. It is somewhat lucky this occurred late at night, missing the traffic rush. Services have been restored in all provinces, except Ontario. Utilities are confident that they can restore services within a day. The Ottawa system has been hit particularly bad. It appears Ottawa was the main target, the rest of the country appears to have been incidental." Jimmy wipes he brow of sweat "I am concerned that we may lose control of the streets, The Ottawa Police Service have made a request for the deployment of Federal resources to counter the looting - I have deployed the RCMP but I'm not sure it will be enough"

John Harrington nodded, before his eyes met the Minister of National Defence

"Harry - do we have the means to deploy forces from the Canadian Army?" John Harrington inquired "Do we have any intelligence on who may be behind this?"

"We can have a brigade deployed into the Capital by morning- assisted by RCAF assets" Harry looked up from his notes "We do not as of yet - intelligence services are exploring a potential foreign interference - but no concrete evidence yet. Sir, I would recommend the Emergencies Act is invoked"

Harrington paused - the Emergencies Act would provide the Government with additional support for the crisis - but it had not been invoked in the history of the Act.

"I also think we should look to move a emergency bill tonight in Parliament" The voice came from Geoffrey Howe, the Attorney General "The people responsible could hit us again at any moment and must be stopped - I am recommending we move a amendment to the law to include the notwithstanding clause. For us to promptly arrest those responsible - we must look at allowing unrestricted stop and search, longer length of detention and suspension of Habeus Corpus."

"Jesus Geoffrey - you're asking us to suspend the charter of rights and freedoms. We'll be crucified in the elections, we'll look like dictators!" Jimmy sweated even more from his brow, anger visible on his face"

"John.. I am the greatest supporter of the charter, but this is an emergency. We need to be swift and purposeful in our actions if we are going to survive this crisis."

Harrington paused. His decision would make or break his premiership. We strode to the window of the office, overlooking the darkness of the city.

"Anyone got a cigarette? Haven't smoked in years, but tonight can be an exception"

A packet of cigarettes and lighters were thrown his direction, sparking up he would take a long contemplating drag. Feeling to kick at the back of his throat he would exhale. Turning to the Leader of the House, Mathew Connolly.

"Bring an emergency bill to the house within the hour - we must include the not withstanding clause to the Emergencies Act. We must vote by morning - I predict Canadian's will be looking to withdraw their savings from the banks. We need the act in place so that we can suspend banks from withdrawing their cash. All of you, to the chamber immediately"

The cabinet rushed out of the room towards the chamber, as Harrington continued his cigarette overlooking the Hill.

 

[Nathan]

Across social media and radio waves, Prime Minister Harrington took to the airwaves;

"Fellow Canadians,

Our country has been left in darkness tonight due to a cyber attack. Transit systems, traffic lights and airports are currently affected. For most of the country, the power has been restored but issues are still affecting Ottawa, and small regions of greater Ontario.

This attack is unprecedented. We do not yet know who is responsible for these events, nor their motives. As such, the cabinet has authorised that the Emergencies Act is invoked, to give my government the authority and resourced we require to keep Canadians safe, and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

I am authorising a curfew in the city of Ottawa between the hours of 10pm and 5am. You must only travel if it is essential. The RCMP is deploying additional officers into the city to assist the Ottawa Police Service in maintaining the rule of law. Giving the nature of this incident, we are passing emergency legislation through the House of Commons to give our security services the authorities they need to protect the rule of law.

I have further ordered that the Canadian Armed Forces provide logistical and security support to the emergency services and local governments in responding to this incident. Members of the Canadian forces will ensure that hospitals have enough supplies to not only treat those under their care, but ensure they have the fuel and supply to keep their generators going.

The phone networks are currently under great strain - I must ask that Canadian's use their phones for short periods of times, and for emergencies only.

Further updates will be provided through radio and social media, until such a time that television services are restored"

---

Parliament had been going most of the night, debating and passing the needed amendment through both chambers of Parliament. The bill had required some political shenanigans the get it through the senate - the government relying on half of the chamber being unable to attend the hill in person due to the total breakdown of the transit system across Canada. A vote of just one confirmed the vote in the positive - with the quorum of senators just about being met.

The Bill was in it's third and final reading of congress, where tempers began to flare. While the liberal party leader Daniel Evans had expressed support for the bill, his backbenchers were noticeably divided on their response.

"This is a tyrannical piece of legislation which has been brought in when most MPs have been unable to even attend Parliament! Shame on the government" One Liberal MP said with vengeance.

Without must pomp and circumstance, the amendment was passed 150 - 80 in the affirmative. The bill was hand delivered by the RCMP and House Clark to the Governor General, and promptly signed. The Canadian Government now had greater powers to impede on the rights set out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.