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Aside from instituting a moratorium on residential evictions and
issuing the occasional small subsidy,33 provinces have been unwill-
ing or unable to do more. Parliament could, by emergency legisla-
tion, enact a moratorium on all residential and commercial evictions.
It could institute a national regime of rent control, as it did during the
Second World War (which the Supreme Court of Canada upheld).34
Or, it could lift the obligation to pay rent for a period of time.35
The Struggle for Nationwide Testing
In the battle against the pandemic, a rallying cry is âtesting, testing,
testing.â Epidemiologists are categorical in stating that testing is core
to managing the spread of the virus, safeguarding the health care sys-
tem, and, eventually, lifting the punishing restrictions on all of us.36
Compared to other countries, Canada has had only modest suc-
cess in achieving the necessary levels of testing.37 The federal govern-
ment has tried to assist provinces in procuring supplies and ramping
up lab capacity.38 As with long-term care homes, the federal govern-
ment could develop guidelines for testing criteria. To actually take
over testing from the provinces, however, likely would require a new
blogto.com/eat_drink/2020/05/toronto-pizza-joint-shuts-down-after-not-
getting-rent-relief-landlord/>.
33. British Columbia achieving the most generous to date, offering up to $500 a
month to residential tenants: BC Housing, âSupporting Renters, Landlords
During COVID-19â (25 March 2020), online: BC Housing <https://www.bchous-
ing.org/news?newsId=1479155088004>. Some provinces have offered nothing.
34. ReferenceÂ
re Wartime Leasehold Regulations, [1950] SCR 124, [1950] 2 DLR 1.
35. New Democratic Party, âAsk Justin Trudeau to Stop Payments and Waive Feesâ
(2020), online: New Democratic Party <https://www.ndp.ca/rent-freeze>.
36. Leslie Young, âSocial Distancing Is Crucial, but Canada also Needs More
Coronavirus Testing: Expertsâ, GlobalÂ
NewsÂ
(24 March 2020), online: <https://glo-
balnews.ca/news/6726525/social-distancing-testing-coronavirus/>; Warren Bell,
âRobust Testing for COVID-19 Is Critical Missing Linkâ, National Observer
(10 April 2020), online: <https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/04/10/opinion/
robust-testing-covid-19-critical-missing-link>.
37. Acknowledging that this is a moving target, Canadaâs performance thus far has
not been in the top tier of countries worldwide: Tonda MacCharles, âCanada
Must Triple its COVID-19 Testing Before Loosening Restrictions, Experts
Sayâ, Toronto Star (23 April 2020), online: <https://www.thestar.com/politics/
federal/2020/04/22/canada-must-triple-its-covid-19-testing-before-loosening-
restrictions-experts-say.html>.
38. Catherine Tunney, âTrudeau Offering Provinces, Territories Help to âScale Upâ
Testing, Contact Tracingâ, CBC News (21 May 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.
ca/news/politics/trudeau-testing-contact-tracing-1.5578714>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Titel
- VULNERABLE
- Untertitel
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Autoren
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Verlag
- Ottawa Press
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Abmessungen
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Seiten
- 648
- Kategorien
- Coronavirus
- International