Page - 339 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

CHAPTER D-3 Fault Lines: COVID-19, the Charter, and Long-term Care* Martha Jackman** Abstract COVID-19 has underscored the crucial role of the single-payer health care system in ensuring access to care based on need, consistent with the Canadian Charter of  Rights  and  Freedoms (the Charter) and international human rights guarantees. But significant fault lines were exposed when health authorities across the country concentrated their pandemic readi- ness efforts on maximizing hospitals’ capacity to deal with the antici- pated surge of COVID-19 patients, without considering the potentially disastrous consequences for an already struggling long-term care system. COVID-19 laid bare the reality that barriers to care continue to exist as a function of who patients are and where they are being treated. Focussing on COVID-19 hospital transfer decisions and their impact on the life, lib- erty, and security of the person and the equality rights of long-term care residents, this chapter argues that governments and health care decision makers in Canada must recognize that access to a comprehensive range of care is a fundamental right, and that human rights–based accountabil- ity is urgently needed in the battle against COVID-19, and beyond. * This paper is dedicated to Robert Bycraft, Anna Babey, and the many other grandparents, parents, and friends whose lives have been cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic./Ce chapitre est dédié à Robert Bycraft et Anna Babey, ainsi qu’aux nombreux autres grands-parents, parents, amis et amies qui ont perdu la vie en raison de la pandémie de COVID-19. ** Professor of Constitutional Law in the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa.