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The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 13

Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Issue Date:
Page:
13
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Weather, TV, BIO FREE nn 0jaMW(ilirffll' Editor: Rob Warner, 726-5981 cltytheclUzen.canwest.com TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2004 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN SECTION City MF ffiiaidal troiMes deepen INSIDE: Audit turns up huge security gaps in multimillion-dollar computer network Staff proposes reducing deficit with in reserves from social housing "Access to these sensitive profiles should be restricted to a much smaller number of individuals," the report said. The auditors also discovered 270 users who can approve purchases and certify receipt of goods. "Normally, these functions should be segregated to help detect errors," the report said. Ernst and Young also found: Computer settings for passwords could be improved; Computer settings for time limits on sessions could be tightened; See AUDIT on PAGE B2 "We're only building 300 units a year," Ms. Holmes said She called on Ottawa's politicians to reject the staff proposal.

The staff proposal, while following normal city policy, flies in the face of a motion council passed last year. It called for operating surpluses to be kept in child care and social housing capital funds, rather than being placed in citywide capital funds. "It is questionable whether staff should have done that," Ms. Holmes said. "The policies are in conflict." See HOUSING on PAGE B2 large problems with the SAP system, which was first used by the former regional government in 1998 and massively expanded by the new city since 2001.

SAP is a giant German firm, which built the huge computer system. "Some users have access rights to sensitive profiles or objects in the SAP production system giving them powerful access to change data or the functionality of SAP," the report, dated May 14, said. "For example, more than 1,200 users have update access to SAP tables, potentially allowing them to make almost any change to SAP without following the normal processes. The proposal comes after council said it is considering firing the board of Ottawa Community Housing Corporation after it was revealed the board failed to spend $13 million, despite terrible living conditions in some city-subsidized dwellings. "There are other reserves we can take from," Mr.

Cullen said The proposal will be discussed at the corporate services committee today. Somerset Councillor Diane Holmes said the 11,000 households in need of subsidized dwellings face a seven-year waiting list. SIO-MILLION FIREAFTERMATH BY KEN GRAY An external auditor has discovered huge security gaps in accounting systems in the city's multimillion-dollar computer network. Ernst and Young, in a report to be presented to the corporate services committee today, found that in one instance, 50 people could input invoices for payment and also approve those payments. Ernst and Young also found 2,000 users or one in six city employees with varying levels of conflicting access.

The auditors discovered other Fire Investigators are expected to Plaza fire t. H'i if: vr i 1 I -)1'i i A ft) Ws i ic1 cg0 ''p BY KEN GRAY City staff has proposed taking $5.4 million from housing reserves to help cover Ottawa's deficit in 2003, city treasurer Lloyd Russell said yesterday. The move follows a long-time city policy of taking surplus cash from its various branches and putting it into a citywide reserve fund, Mr. Russell said. But that move has some city councillors fuming.

"This money is earmarked to help the homeless and the most severe form of poverty," Bay Councillor Alex Cullen said Attempts to reach Mr. Blake yesterday were unsuccessful. Sgt. Haarbosch said crews would be working at the scene for at least two more days and no conclusive report on the cause of the fire would be issued until the investigation was complete. He declined to comment on whether witnesses had seen anyone fleeing the scene of the fire, saying he would wait to determine whether eyewitness accounts were "relevant" to the investigation.

The fire began some time around 2:40 am. on Sunday and rapidly spread throughout the strip mall by way of the ceiling, requiring 80 firefighters and 19 vehicles to extinguish it. An ex Body of girl, 4, found in Quebec lake Embrun child dies after boating mishap BY ISABEL TEOTONIO The search for a missing four-year-old girl who disappeared beneath the dark, murky waters of Lac Vert, near Montpellier, after a boating accident Sunday, ended yesterday when police divers pulled the body of Sandrine Brisson to the surface. But the sight of a motorboat headed straight for their pad-dleboat, a thunderous bang and the cries of her nephew screaming for his missing sister will likely haunt Brigitte Marion Vinette for some time. "I cried a lot" Sunday night, Ms.

Marion Vinette, 29, said yesterday as divers searched for her niece. Three Surete du Quebec divers and dozens of family members and friends spent the day on the water looking for the little Embrun girl. "I feel responsible. I can't imagine losing a child We were responsible for them," said Ms. Marion Vinette, explaining she and her mother, Monique Marion, 52, had been babysitting Sandrine and her six-year-old brother, Jeremie, that day.

The two women and children had planned to spend a fun-filled afternoon at the Marion family cottage, about 60 kilometres northeast of Ottawa, while the children's parents, Norman and Christine Brisson, spent the day at their own cottage on Riviere Blanche in Mayo, outside Buckingham. After playing in the water at the dock's edge, they decided to paddle out into the lake, as they had on countless occasions. They took along two life-jackets in case the children wanted to jump off the boat But the homemade paddle-boat was so large and sturdy, no one thought it would be dangerous to go out on the water without putting on the life-jackets. See LAKE on PAGE B2 EDITORIAL: BEWATER SAFE, B4 if 1 The boat Sandrine Brisson was on was struck by a power craft. be working at the scene of the McArthur Plaza fire for at least two more days before a conclusive report on the fire's cause is available.

began in second-hand shop: investigators Store owner once convicted of extortion; officials haven't determined arson motive BY SHANNON PROUDF00T Arson investigators say the blaze that destroyed the McArthur Plaza in Vanier on Sunday originated in Biddi's Buy and Sell, a second-hand shop owned by Norris Blake, a convicted extortionist. In October 2003, Mr. Blake was convicted of two counts of conspiring to extort for his involvement in a private investigation firm that targeted prominent Ottawa businessmen by photographing them in compromising sexual situa nHRI.MIKIilA THP OTTAWA cavation company began demolishing the structure on Sunday afternoon because it was unsafe for investigators to enter the wreckage as it stood, and crews began examining the debris for evidence yesterday. Of the 18 stores in the complex, only a beer store and martial arts studio were unscathed. A Loeb grocery store sustained heavy smoke damage, but the effects of the fire were confined to the facade.

The CIBC said yesterday its branch in the mall would be closed for "the foreseeable future," and indicated that the next nearest branch is at 1200 St Laurent Blvd See FIRE on PAGE B5 shirts. The entire Canadian junior team received Gongshow Gear hooded sweatshirts at Christmas when the team was playing at the world championships in Helsinki. Alexis Peters, a professor at St. Mary's University College in Calgary, who produced a landmark study of junior hockey players in 1999, said the website's demise is only a small step. See SLUR on PAGE B2 prostitutes used in the seduction schemes and drive them to the appointed meeting places.

Sgt. Mike Haarbosch of the Ottawa police arson investigation unit said it will be difficult to find evidence of the cause of the fire in the ruined secondhand shop, because it was the centre of both the devastating fire and the efforts to combat it. "The area where we think the fire started is pretty badly damaged, not only by the fire, but by equipment," he said. Investigators have not determined any motive for Mr. Blake's store possibly being an arson target, Sgt.

Haarbosch said. "It all kind of forms part of the investigation at this point." "whores" and "pigs" who provide it. On Saturday, the Citizen published an article about the website and how Gongshow Gear used it to turn a profit "The newspaper article was a wakeup call to us," Rob Croft, the president of Gongshow Gear, said in a press release. "Clearly, the postings had crossed a une of bad taste, and we failed to monitor the content and to eliminate the offensive material which be tions and blackmailing them. Camelot Investigative Services, the firm that carried out the scheme, was owned by Harry Alexander and retired Ottawa police sergeant Raymond Sabourin.

Mr. Alexander was also convicted of two counts of conspiring to extort, but Mr. Sabourin was not charged. Mr. Alexander used the investigative firm to target people with whom he was involved in monetary disputes or litigation.

Mr. Blake's role in the operation was to procure the Gear, a clothing line worn by National Hockey League professionals and junior hockey players across North America, has shut down the Junior Hockey Bible, the website they created and used to sell their sweaters, T-shirts and ball caps. The website, which was located at www.juniorhockey bible.com and had more than 8,000 registered members, was filled with stories about sex and the "bitches," Ottawa firm apologizes for 'puck sluts' slur of women came increasingly dominant on the website, particularly against young women." Mr. Croft, 23, along with Gerald McNamee, 24, and Craig Kennedy, 24, are the founders of Gongshow Gear and the Junior Hockey Bible. The trio met while playing junior hockey in Kanata.

Numerous NHL players, such as the Detroit Red Wings' Derian Hatcher and Minnesota Wild's Brent Burns, wear Gongshow Gear hats and Founders shut website after 'wakeup call' BY TONY LOFARO AND GREG MCARTHUR An Ottawa-based hockey apparel company has apologized after a Citizen story profiled its marketing ploy a website that referred to women as "puck sluts" and offered tips on how to "tag team" them. The founders of Gongshow.

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Pages Available:
2,112,776
Years Available:
1898-2024