Page - 119 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

119Resisting the Siren’s Call: Emergency Powers, Federalism, and Public Policy to respond to it.15 Equally, such laws are subject to the Canadian Charter of  Rights  and  Freedoms.16 Emergency Laws and COVID-19 The pandemic has profoundly affected all areas of social and eco- nomic life; and revealed cracks in the country’s health and social wel- fare systems. Under the division of powers, provinces have exclusive authority over “property and civil rights” and “all matters of a merely local or private nature”17—in other words, over those aspects of life most at risk from the virus. But, spurred in part by the different levels of provincial success in combatting COVID-19,18 the federal govern- ment has faced repeated calls to intervene. Promoting Health and Well-being: Long-term Care Homes One of the pandemic’s cruellest features is its ravaging of long-term care homes, where hundreds of thousands of Canadians receive life-affirming care. Deaths in such homes have vastly outpaced the population at large. The premier of Quebec has described the province as fighting two pan- demics—one in long-term care homes and one in the general population.19 Long-term care homes are not considered part of the primary health care system.20 Many are privately owned and operated for 15. Re  Anti-Inflation  Act, supra note 12. 16. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has launched a Charter challenge against provincial travel restrictions and prohibitions on travel: Brian Platt, “Civil Liberties Group Filing Charter Challenge over Newfoundland’s Ban on Travel Into Province”, National Post (21 May 2020), online: <https://national- post.com/news/politics/civil-liberties-group-filing-charter-challenge-over-new- foundlands-ban-on-travel-into-province>. Other constitutional provisions, such as those concerning Indigenous rights, must also be respected. 17. Constitution  Act,  1867, supra note 5 s 92(7), (14), (16). 18. Justin McElroy, “Why B.C. is Flattening the COVID-19 Curve While Numbers in Central Canada Surge”, CBC News (6 April 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/ news/canada/british-columbia/bc-ontario-quebec-covid-19-1.5524056>. B.C. has 3 deaths per 100,000 while Quebec has over 35 deaths per 100,000. 19. Colin Harris, “COVID-19 in Quebec: Virus Creates ‘2 Separate Worlds,’ Says Premier—Long-Term Care Homes vs. Rest of Society”, CBC News (24 April 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/covid-19-quebec-april-24-1. 5543521>. 20. Dr Amit Arya, “COVID-19 Rips Bandage Off Open Wound that Is Our Nursing Home System”, CBC News (26 April 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/ opinion/opinion-nursing-homes-conditions-1.5541155>.