Page - 114 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE114 be used for a more regulatory purpose; a federal order mandating clear and consistent rules of personal protective equipment across the continuum of care, for the COVID-19 pandemic period, hardly represents a return to the darkest moments of the War  Measures  Act. Overall, we argue that in a number of important respects, the Act is too restrictive. As we have outlined, the internal limitations clause would appear to prohibit the selective detainment of individuals “dis- abled” by COVID-19. The Act also doesn’t appear to enable national requirements for testing, for example, in long-term care homes. In fact, the Act sounds a hollow promise: it does not sufficiently enable a time-limited federal response to an actual public health emergency, COVID-19, in cases where provincial action has been insufficient.