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VULNERABLE152 present emergency.50 To be sure, the fact that negotiations take place off-stage means that interest-based bargaining does not carry the same repercussions as public politicization of the pandemic response would. But the evidence suggests that the early pandemic response in Canada has not, generally, been politicized.51 This is not inevita- ble, however, as the situation in the United States makes clear.52 In this depoliticized, more collaborative space, discussions and negotia- tions are more likely to focus on issues of accountability—how much authority does the executive require to respond to the pandemic? Would certain measures overreach? How should the government’s spending be overseen by Parliament on an ongoing basis? In short, off-stage accountability must be considered in evaluat- ing how the legislature holds the executive to account in a pandemic. Of course, it is not a substitute for on-stage accountability, particularly as time goes on. As Thomas notes, off-stage negotiations do not tend to promote transparency or representation. He reports, for example, that a relatively exclusive group of MPs from each party were part of the negotiations that led to the development of the early pieces of coronavirus legislation.53 At the same time, no MP ultimately objected to the agreements that were struck.54 Moreover, it would be a mistake to ignore these levers in evaluating the overall accountability dynam- ics of the current situation, especially in light of their apparent effec- tiveness in securing more transparent and representative forms of oversight. It now falls to parliamentary committees to take advantage of their mandates. Another node of off-stage accountability can be found within the executive itself. Civil servants in both the legal and policy spheres provide expert advice to politicians on how legislation and govern- ment programs should be structured.55 This includes providing legal 50. Zack Beauchamp, “Canada Succeeded on Coronavirus Where America Failed. Why?”, Vox (4 May 2020), online: <www.vox.com/2020/5/4/21242750/coronavi- rus-covid-19-united-states-canada-trump-trudeau>, citing Eric Merkley et al, “A Rare Moment of Cross-Partisan Consensus: Elite and Public Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada” Can J Political Science [forthcoming in 2020]. 51. Ibid. 52. Beauchamp, supra note 50. 53. Thomas, “Parliament Under Pressure”, supra note 5. See also Malloy, supra note 22. 54. I am grateful to Charlie Feldman for this point. 55. See generally Gillian E Metzger, “Foreword: 1930s Redux: The Administrative State Under Siege” (2017) 131 Harv L Rev 2 at 71-72: “The administrative state—with its bureaucracy, expert and professional personnel, and internal