A tale of two federations and their (mis)handling of the pandemic – iPolitics.ca

On Monday, Canada hit a dark milestone of over 20,000 deaths from COVID-19. One reason for this disturbing statistic is the intergovernmental finger-pointing 10 months into the pandemic; the ability of Canadian federalism to meet this national crisis continues to be tested.

Theres a sharp contrast between Canada and Australia, also a federal state, in how each country has managed the pandemic. Australia crushed the curve, while Canadas approach has been much less successful. Canadians are justified in asking why.

Despite the challenges of heading a coalition government, Australias Liberal prime minister has navigated the rocky shoals between federal and state governments to implement significant measures including lockdowns affecting businesses, minority groups, and those less advantaged. In contrast, Canadas federal-provincial coordination has been mixed, which may have resulted in higher rates of infection and death than in Australia.

A Canadian consensus to act decisively and co-operatively was evident earlier in the pandemic. Last March, premiers were unanimous in their support of lockdowns. They also publicly supported their public health officials, and mobilized health ministries and procurement authorities. Together, the latter snapped into action, acquiring and distributing personal protective equipment, collaborating, and sharing public-health guidance across jurisdictions. Fluid and dynamic conversations were had at a dizzying and productive pace among leaders from all orders of government in the federation: local, provincial/territorial, federal, and Indigenous. Indigenous governments and leaders managed to attract billions of federal dollars, and to get support from the Canadian Armed Forces. Federalism in Canada was indeed working.

However, by summers end, such informal co-operation between governments began to fray. Canadas Constitution provides few formal mechanisms for national coordination. The Peace, Order and Good Government clause in section 91 of the Constitution Act has been interpreted as giving the federal government emergency powers, but its use is controversial. The federal Emergencies Act would seem tailor-made for this situation (a public-welfare emergency being one of four kinds contemplated by the Act), but the Act requires consultation with the provinces. Provinces were unanimous in opposing its invocation as an intrusion in an area squarely within their jurisdiction under the Constitution Act.

Throughout the fall, COVID infections multiplied. At a meeting of first ministers in December, Ottawa briefed them on its vaccine plans, and shared data on national and regional trends. The provinces and territories decided to use their collective voice to ask Ottawa for more health-transfer money. Meanwhile, Australia was locking down again.

That meeting may be remembered as a low point for Canadian federalism. Clearly, an opportunity for the federation to serve Canadians was missed. Was that really the time for provinces and territories to argue for perennial increases in health-care transfers?

Instead, they could have forged a joint plan of action, with coordinated lockdowns, travel restrictions, and bans timed according to vaccine distribution. Australia has shown that, with vaccines in sight, a hard shutdown to crush the curve is not only tolerable, but popular. Canada got its first shipment of vaccine 10 days after that December meeting.

According to a recent Angus Reid Poll, 51 per cent of Canadians say the No. 1 problem the federal government should be dealing with right now is the pandemic. Thats the highest proportion saying so since the pandemic began. Health care is second on the priority list, at 38 per cent, and the economy is third, at 29 per cent.

In the collective best interest of Canadians, maybe premiers could agree to a coordinated 90-day lockdown (excepting schools). Imagine what the federation could achieve: stabilize vaccine supply and distribution; relieve pressure on hospitals intensive-care units; bend the curve; and limit the spread of the virus and its variants.

After 90 days, the federation could be as effective and strong as Australias.

Stephen Van Dine is the senior vice-president at the Institute on Governance.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the authors alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.