Page - 136 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE136 of emergency should be made at the lowest level of jurisdiction.”36 It is up to the province alone to decide if a municipal order is valid.37 This leaves a great deal of discretion to provinces to override local expertise.38 In my view, municipalities should have greater protection in two ways in order to affirm their important role in Canadian federal- ism. First, the principle of cooperative federalism is not enshrined in legislation and thus stands on shaky ground. Certain matters require provincial or federal attention based on scale.39 However, legislative design can affirm local expertise in matters delegated to municipal governments without contravening emergency responses at the pro- vincial scale. For example, the Province of British Columbia upheld Vancouver’s state of emergency based in part on the city’s unique leg- islative basis, the Vancouver Charter, and because it respects the city’s expertise in responding to the needs of particular populations.40 Other Canadian provinces have upheld municipal states of emergency on matters that do not conflict with provincial or federal orders. Second, municipalities, which all across Canada enjoy good credit ratings and thus low interest rates, are also limited in their power to raise revenue, which will constrain their ability to introduce the measures that they identify as necessary. Despite the size of their governments, large cities may not carry deficits and thus will require provincial bailouts. Canadian cities have long advocated for legisla- tive reform with respect to municipal finance and COVID-19 may be the impetus to do so.41 These reforms will enable municipalities to exercise their important role in pandemic response, particularly when it comes to the needs of the most vulnerable. 36. Emergency  Management  and  Civil  Protection  Act, supra note 22. 37. Ibid, s 4(4). 38. Note an upcoming leave to appeal that may impact provincial override of munic- ipal decisions: City  of  Toronto  v  Attorney  General  of  Ontario (2020) leave accepted by the Supreme Court of Canada (38921). 39. See Carissima Mathen, Chapter A-7 this volume. 40. Government of British Columbia, supra note 23. 41. See e.g. Keith Gerein, “COVID-19 Has Exposed the Weaknesses in How We Treat Municipalities”, Edmonton Journal (9 May 2020), online: <https://edmon- tonjournal.com/news/local-news/keith-gerein-covid-19-has-exposed-the- weaknesses-in-how-we-treat-municipalities/>; Enid Slack & Tomas Hachard, “COVID-19 Crisis Creates Chance to Re-Examine Provincial Funding of Cities”, The Toronto Star (6 April 2020), online: <https://www.thestar.com/opinion/con- tributors/2020/04/06/covid-19-crisis-creates-chance-to-re-examine-provincial- funding-of-cities.html>.