It's the hottest story in the world and it now has a connection to southeast Saskatchewan.
The latest release from Wikileaks, the U.S. website that is releasing a number of classified government documents, includes a mention of North Portal.
According to numerous reports, the latest information made public by WikiLeak's controversial owner, Julian Assange, includes a lists of sites within Canada that would be deemed vital to U.S. interests in the event of an attack, natural disaster or other emergency.
Among the areas on the list is the North Portal rail crossing which is a critical north-south crossing for the Midwest United States and Canada.
The list was apparently compiled in 2008 and updated in 2009 to identify key resources and critical infrastructure in U.S. allies as well as enemies with an eye towards strengthening "national preparedness, timely response, and rapid recovery in the event of an attack, natural disaster or other emergency." The creation of the list was designed to "prevent, deter, neutralize or mitigate the effects of deliberate efforts by terrorists to destroy, incapacitate or exploit" sites deemed of "vital" importance to the United States.
Along with the North Portal crossing, some of the other sites were:
Hibernia Atlantic undersea cable landing (in) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
James Bay Power Project, Quebec: Monumental hydroelectric power development
Mica Dam, British Columbia: Failure would impact the Columbia River Basin
Hydro Quebec, Quebec: Critical irreplaceable source of power to portions of Northeast U.S.
Robert Moses/Robert H. Saunders Power, Ontario: Part of the St. Lawrence Power Project, between Barnhart Island, New York, and Cornwall, Ontario
Seven Mile Dam, British Columbia: Concrete gravity dam between two other hydropower dams along the Pend d'Oreille River
Pickering Nuclear Power Plant, Ontario, Canada Chalk River Nuclear Facility, Ontario: Largest supplier of medical radioisotopes in the world
Hydrofluoric Acid Production Facility, Allied Signal, Amherstburg, Ontario
Enbridge Pipeline Alliance Pipeline: Natural gas transmission from Canada
Alexandria Bay POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Ambassador Bridge POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Blaine POE, British Columbia: Northern border crossing Blaine Washington Rail Crossing, British Columbia
Blue Water Bridge POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Champlain POE, Quebec: Northern border crossing
CPR Tunnel Rail Crossing, Ontario (Michigan Central Rail Crossing) International Bridge Rail Crossing, Ontario International Railway Bridge Rail Crossing Lewiston-Queenstown POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Peace Bridge POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Pembina POE, Manitoba: Northern border crossing
North Portal Rail Crossing, Saskatchewan; St. Claire Tunnel Rail Crossing, Ontario
Waneta Dam, (south of Trail,) British Columbia: Earthfill/concrete hydropower dam
Germanium Mine Graphite Mine Iron Ore Mine Nickel Mine Niobec Mine, Quebec, Canada: Niobium Cangene, Winnipeg, Manitoba:
Plasma Sanofi Pasteur Ltd., Toronto, Canada: Polio virus vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Quebec, Canada: Pre-pandemic influenza vaccines
A number of other sites around the world were included in the release as well as their locations in certain instances. The fact that locations were part of the list has drawn the ire of many who feel it will provide terrorists with not only a list of vital infrastructure but a map of how to find it.
