Page - 122 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE122 Aside from instituting a moratorium on residential evictions and issuing the occasional small subsidy,33 provinces have been unwill- ing or unable to do more. Parliament could, by emergency legisla- tion, enact a moratorium on all residential and commercial evictions. It could institute a national regime of rent control, as it did during the Second World War (which the Supreme Court of Canada upheld).34 Or, it could lift the obligation to pay rent for a period of time.35 The Struggle for Nationwide Testing In the battle against the pandemic, a rallying cry is “testing, testing, testing.” Epidemiologists are categorical in stating that testing is core to managing the spread of the virus, safeguarding the health care sys- tem, and, eventually, lifting the punishing restrictions on all of us.36 Compared to other countries, Canada has had only modest suc- cess in achieving the necessary levels of testing.37 The federal govern- ment has tried to assist provinces in procuring supplies and ramping up lab capacity.38 As with long-term care homes, the federal govern- ment could develop guidelines for testing criteria. To actually take over testing from the provinces, however, likely would require a new blogto.com/eat_drink/2020/05/toronto-pizza-joint-shuts-down-after-not- getting-rent-relief-landlord/>. 33. British Columbia achieving the most generous to date, offering up to $500 a month to residential tenants: BC Housing, “Supporting Renters, Landlords During COVID-19” (25 March 2020), online: BC  Housing  <https://www.bchous- ing.org/news?newsId=1479155088004>. Some provinces have offered nothing. 34. Reference  re  Wartime  Leasehold  Regulations, [1950] SCR 124, [1950] 2 DLR 1. 35. New Democratic Party, “Ask Justin Trudeau to Stop Payments and Waive Fees” (2020), online: New  Democratic  Party <https://www.ndp.ca/rent-freeze>. 36. Leslie Young, “Social Distancing Is Crucial, but Canada also Needs More Coronavirus Testing: Experts”, Global  News  (24 March 2020), online: <https://glo- balnews.ca/news/6726525/social-distancing-testing-coronavirus/>; Warren Bell, “Robust Testing for COVID-19 Is Critical Missing Link”, National Observer (10 April 2020), online: <https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/04/10/opinion/ robust-testing-covid-19-critical-missing-link>. 37. Acknowledging that this is a moving target, Canada’s performance thus far has not been in the top tier of countries worldwide: Tonda MacCharles, “Canada Must Triple its COVID-19 Testing Before Loosening Restrictions, Experts Say”, Toronto Star (23 April 2020), online: <https://www.thestar.com/politics/ federal/2020/04/22/canada-must-triple-its-covid-19-testing-before-loosening- restrictions-experts-say.html>. 38. Catherine Tunney, “Trudeau Offering Provinces, Territories Help to ‘Scale Up’ Testing, Contact Tracing”, CBC News (21 May 2020), online: <https://www.cbc. ca/news/politics/trudeau-testing-contact-tracing-1.5578714>.