Page - 351 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

351Fault Lines: COVID-19, the Charter, and Long-term Care In the face of COVID-19, governments and health authorities were forced to make difficult decisions and trade-offs, in a very short time, often with incomplete and inadequate information.67 As Colleen M. Flood, Bryan Flood and Kumanan Wilson discuss, the courts will undoubtedly exercise considerable deference towards those choic- es.68 Containing the pandemic and ensuring hospitals and the health care system could manage the projected surge of COVID-19 patients were critical objectives. There were, however, long-standing warn- ings about the danger of viral outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Recommendations made by the Federal SARS Commission to miti- gate this risk were disregarded, even as measures were implemented in hospitals.69 With few exceptions,70 the threat to long-term care residents was not seriously considered in most parts of the country. Inattention to the vulnerability of the long-term care system and to the particular risks created by COVID-19 transfers was not a rational means of achieving public health objectives and, in fact, undermined them. In sum, the failure to take into account, much less adopt proac- tive measures to protect, the life, security, and equality of long-term care residents, cannot be justified under s. 1. The Way Forward: Comprehensiveness and Accountability With long-term care residents representing only 1% of the Canadian population, but over 80% of COVID-19 deaths,71 political leaders have expressed sadness and shame; governments have committed to conducting post-pandemic reviews; health profession regula- tory bodies have signalled their intention to investigate; criminal inquiries have been called for, and lawsuits have been launched.72 67. Flood, Thomas & Wilson, this volume, Chapter C-1. 68. Ibid; Paola Loriggio, “Proposed Lawsuits Raise Questions on ‘Reasonable Care’” Ottawa  Citizen (4 May 2020) NP3. 69. Tomlinson & Robertson, supra note 26; Globe  and  Mail, supra note 25. 70. Howlett, supra note 5; Hina Alan, “Vancouver Care Homes Cast a Wide Net in Testing”, Ottawa  Citizen (11 May 2020) NP4. 71. MacCharles, supra note 14. 72. Nick Boisvert, “Ontario Long-Term Care Homes in Scathing Report Could Face Charges, Says Ford”, CBC News (26 May 2020), online: <www.cbc.ca/ news/canada/toronto/ontario-military-ltc-report-1.5585131>; Christopher Guly, “I Know How Precious It Is to Say Goodbye to a Parent Dying In Care”, The Tyee (12 May 2020), online: <thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/05/12/Precious-Goodbye- Parent-Dying-In-Care/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_cam- paign=130520>; Béatrice Roy-Brunet, “CHSLD  : deux organisations veulent que