Page - 170 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE170 Parliament and its committees have stepped up to play a cru- cial role in holding government to account. The federal government initially overreached in proposed legislation18 by trying to appro- priate to itself discretion to spend without parliamentary approval. The Opposition stopped that before it was tabled. Nevertheless, the legislation was approved in record time. It began in preparation on March 17, 2020, and was tabled on March 24, passed both houses, and given Royal Assent on March 25. The challenge function of Parliament worked, but not to the impairment of the approval function.19 More broadly, Parliament has adapted to the need to continue to meet while doing so at distance: distance within the Chamber and distance from the Chamber. This ability to adapt is key in a crisis. Processes of Decision-Making Processes matter. Niall Ferguson argues that institutions degenerate and decline when their capacity for structured and rigorous decision- making is undermined. Adapting decision processes to the challenge of the moment ensures they can accomplish their ends while facing the challenge of COVID-19.20 Good governance requires inclusive, informed, and accountable processes, including administrative, Cabinet, parliamentary, inter- governmental, and international processes. What follows is a brief discussion of some of these processes. In Westminster parliamentary democracies, Cabinet requires adherence to a few key principles, such as solidarity. But a pan- demic requires that the adaptation of decision processes be effective. Speed and effectiveness require better use of Cabinet committees and deployment of talent in new ways. After 9/11, the Prime Minister cre- ated a Cabinet Committee that had long been advised, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, to deal with international security and intel- ligence issues. With the pandemic challenging Cabinet’s capacity to respond well and fast, the PM created the Cabinet Committee on the Federal Response to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. If spies and civil rights 18. COVID-19  Emergency  Response  Act, SC 2020, c 5. 19. See MacDonnell, this volume, Chapter B-1, discussing “off-stage” negotiations and accountability. 20. Niall Ferguson, The  Great  Degeneration:  How  Institutions  Decay  and  Economies  Die (London: Allen Lane, 2012).