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compensation unless they are actually ill. The federal Emergency
Response Benefit can provide income if they stay at home because of
the hazards involved in going to work, but if they quit their jobs they
are not eligible,28 and it is legally unclear whether they would remain
eligible if they were fired for failing to return to work during the decon-
finement period, despite verbal assurances from Minister Freeland.29
Stories from the Trenches
In both Ontario and Quebec it has become abundantly clear that ade-
quate supplies of PPE, including appropriate respiratory protections
and gowns, were not available.30 Although priority was given to the
acute care hospitals in Quebec, supplies were insufficient and some-
times obsolete,31 and workers in long-term care facilities were denied
supplies,32 which, if available, were sometimes kept under lock and
key.33 Workers and residents paid the price.34 By mid-April, so many
workers were absent in the health care sector that Quebec officials,
empowered by a decree that overrode collective agreements,35 ordered
You Don’t” (2019) 29:3 New Solutions: A J Occupational & Environmental
Health Policy 317.
28. Government of Canada, supra note 10.
29. Mark Gollom, “Anxious About COVID-19 and Returning to Work? Here’s What
You Need to Know”, CBC News (6 May 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/
business/work-return-coronavirus-employers-employees-1.5555593>.
30. Nicolas Bérubé, “Manque de masques: des médecins lancent un cri d’alarme
aux entreprises”, La Presse (26 March 2020), online: <https://www.lapresse.ca/
covid-19/202003/26/01-5266541-manque-de-masques-des-medecins-lancent-un-
cri-dalarme-aux-entreprises.php>.
31. Thomas Gerbet, “Des masques périmés depuis 11 ans qui craquent sur le visage
des infirmières”, Ici Radio Canada (28 April 2020), online: <https://ici.radio-canada.
ca/nouvelle/1697940/masques-perimes-covid-n95-elastique-hopital-lakeshore>.
32. Patrick Lagacé, “Chronique Covid-19 
: Les vieux, les malades les plus contagieux”,
La Presse+ (23 April 2020), online: <https://www.lapresse.ca/covid-19/202004/22/01-
5270512-les-vieux-les-malades-les-plus-contagieux.php>; Isabelle Hachey, “Cinq
jours en zone rouge”, La Presse (3 May 2020), online: <https://www.lapresse.ca/
covid-19/202005/02/01-5271901-cinq-jours-en-zone-rouge.php>.
33. Patrick Martin et al, “De la reconnaissance dans les soins”, Le Devoir (24 April 2020),
online: <https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/577628/de-la-reconnaissance-
dans-les-soins>.
34. Alexis Riopel, “Une hécatombe hors norme dans les CHSLD du Québec”, Le
Devoir (25 April 2020), online: <https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/577716/une-
hecatombe-hors-norme>.
35. Gouvernement du QuĂ©bec, L’arrĂŞtĂ©Â numĂ©ro 2020-007 de la ministre de la SantĂ©Â etÂ
des Services sociaux en date du 21 mars 2020 (Québec: Gouvernement du Québec,
21 March 2020).
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International