Page - 99 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

99Pandemic Data Sharing: How the Canadian Constitution Has Turned into a Suicide Pact Presciently, the New Democratic Party complained at the time that although the legislation gave Cabinet the power to make regulations to collect epidemiological information, it placed no  corresponding  duty  on provinces to share information.18 This omission is echoed in WHO’s 2018 review of Canada’s compliance with the obligations set out in the International  Health  Regulations: While existing legislation does not specify terms for interjurisdic- tional sharing—which remains voluntary between provinces and territories and the federal levels—informal collegial relationships with provincial and territorial health authorities have been essen- tial for public health surveillance and response to acute public health events across Canada.19 WHO went on to caution that the failure to ensure information sharing might “negatively affect [Canada’s] ability to efficiently and effectively implement public health actions in response to an acute public health event.”20 A decade before WHO’s evaluation, in 2008, the Auditor General of Canada similarly warned: To obtain routine surveillance information, [PHAC] relies on the goodwill of the provinces and territories. However, due to gaps in its information-sharing agreements with them, it is not assured of receiving timely, accurate, and complete information. A data- sharing agreement recently signed with Ontario re-established the regular flow of information about individual cases after two years when this flow was limited. However, the Agency has not reached similar data-sharing agreements with the remaining provinces and territories.21 18. Ibid at line 1725. 19. World Health Organization, “Joint External Evaluation of IHR Core Capacities of Canada” (2019) at 27, online (pdf): World  Health  Organization <https://www. who.int/ihr/publications/who-whe-cpi-2019.62/en/>. 20. Ibid at 2. 21. House of Commons, Surveillance  of  Infectious  Diseases—Public  Health  Agency  of  Canada (Ottawa: Office of the Auditor General of Canada, May 2008) at 2, online: Office  of  the  Auditor  General  of  Canada <https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/ English/ parl_oag_200805_05_e_30701.html>.