Page - 111 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

111The Federal Emergencies Act: A Hollow Promise in the Face of COVID-19? lockdown is necessary, as opposed to continued reliance on coop- erative federalism.17 Scenario 2: Can the Emergencies Act Support the Ramping Up of Testing and Contact Tracing? The Emergencies  Act  might also be invoked to ensure there is appropriate testing and contact tracing of cases across Canada.18 At the time of writ- ing this chapter, provincial efforts at testing and contact tracing have been mixed. In several large provinces (Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia), officials have been instructing patients with mild symp- toms to self-isolate rather than seek testing. Testing has been seriously backlogged in some provinces, while others have been testing below their available capacity.19 The Act has no provision explicitly authoriz- ing the federal government to establish minimum levels of testing and tracing for the provinces. However, section 8 does provide for the estab- lishment of “emergency shelters and hospitals,”20 and as such may be interpreted to permit the federal government to establish testing sites. If (and this is a big if) testing was ramped up, the Act might also be employed to enhance Canada’s lacklustre efforts at contact tracing, at least in some provinces.21 South Korea’s highly praised response to the outbreak (at least prior to a second wave) has been supported, in part, by the use of GPS data from cellphones and cars.22 Retracing infected 17. This is not to deny that there are good reasons to be concerned generally  about the efficacy and accountability of cooperative federalism within the public health sphere; see The SARS Commission, The SARS Commission Interim Report: SARS and Public Health in Ontario (Toronto: The SARS Commission, 15 April 2004) (Commissioner: The Honourable Justice Archie Campbell) at 66, online: Archives of Ontario <http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/sars/report/Interim_ Report.pdf>. See also Amir Attaran & Adam R Houston, this volume, Chapter A-5. 18. Colleen M Flood, Teresa Scassa & David Robertson, “How Invoking the Emergencies  Act Could Help Canada Better Track, Contain COVID-19”, CBC News (27 March 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-covid- coronavirus-emergency-measures-act-tracking-1.5510999>. 19. Andrew Russel, “Ontario Conducting Fewer than 3,000 COVID-19 Tests Despite Daily Capacity of 13,000”, Global  News  (April 8, 2020), online: <https://global- news.ca/news/6793481/coronavirus-covid-19-tests-ontario-capacity/>. 20. Emergencies  Act,  supra  note 6, s 8(g). 21. Michael Wolfson, “Who Should We Really be Testing for COVID-19”, Toronto Star (28 April 2020), online: <https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/04/ 28/who-should-we-really-be-testing-for-covid-19.html>. 22. Editorial, “Show Evidence that Apps for COVID-19 Contact Tracing Are Secure and Effective”, Nature (29 April 2020), online: Nature <https://www.nature.com/ articles/d41586-020-01264-1>.