Page - 31 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

CHAPTER A-1 Have the Post-SARS Reforms Prepared Us for COVID-19? Mapping the Institutional Landscape Katherine Fierlbeck* and Lorian Hardcastle** Abstract Effective pandemic management requires a clear and straightforward structure of communication and accountability. Yet the political reali- ties of Canadian federalism preclude this. The fundamental theme of pandemic management in Canada is thus the tension between the need to make clear, coherent, and timely decisions, on the one hand, and the need to involve an exceptionally large array of political actors across different levels of government, on the other. The sudden out- break of SARS in 2003 exposed several problems in coordinating the public health system. This led to a major restructuring of public health institutions in Canada. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic tested these reforms and identified new issues underlying the coordination of governmen- tal actors. This chapter presents the legal and institutional context within which COVID-19 has emerged, and identifies both lessons learned from the past and the challenges that remain. * McCulloch Professor of Political Science, Dalhousie University. ** Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.