Vulnerable - The Law, Policy and Ethics of Covid-19

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, has infected people in 212 countries so far and on every continent except Antarctica.

Vast changes to our home lives, social interactions, government functioning and relations between countries have swept the world in a few months and are difficult to hold in one's mind at one time. That is why a collaborative effort such as this edited, multidisciplinary collection is needed. This book confronts the vulnerabilities and interconnectedness made visible by the pandemic and its consequences, along with the legal, ethical and policy responses. These include vulnerabilities for people who have been harmed or will be harmed by the virus directly and those harmed by measures taken to slow its relentless march; vulnerabilities exposed in our institutions, governance and legal structures; and vulnerabilities in other countries and at the global level where persistent injustices harm us all.

Hopefully, COVID-19 will forces us to deeply reflect on how we govern and our policy priorities; to focus preparedness, precaution, and recovery to include all, not just some.

Published in English and French.

List of contents

INTRODUCTION

Overview of COVID-19: Old and New Vulnerabilities

Colleen M. Flood, Vanessa MacDonnell, Jane Philpott, Sophie Thériault and Sridhar Venkatapuram

 

 

SECTION A: WHO DOES WHAT?

CHALLENGES AND DEMANDS OF CANADIAN FEDERALISM

 

CHAPTER A-1

Have the Post-SARS Reforms Prepared Us for COVID-19? Mapping the Institutional Landscape

Katherine Fierlbeck and Lorian Hardcastle

 

CHAPTER A-2

COVID-19 and First Nations' Responses

Aimée Craft, Deborah McGregor, and Jeffery Hewitt

 

CHAPITRE A-3

Réflexions sur la mise en oeuvre de la Loi sur la santé publique au Québec dans le contexte de la pandémie de COVID-19

Michelle Giroux

 

CHAPITRE A-4

La COVID-19 au Canada : le fédéralisme coopératif à pied d'oeuvre

David Robitaille

 

CHAPTER A-5

Pandemic Data Sharing: How the Canadian Constitution Has Turned into a Suicide Pact

Amir Attaran and Adam R. Houston

 

CHAPTER A-6

The Federal Emergencies Act: A Hollow Promise in the Face of COVID-19?

Colleen M. Flood and Bryan Thomas

 

CHAPTER A-7

Resisting the Siren's Call: Emergency Powers, Federalism, and Public Policy

Carissima Mathen

 

CHAPTER A-8

Municipal Power and Democratic Legitimacy in the Time of COVID-19

Alexandra Flynn

 

 

SECTION B: MAKING SURE SOMEONE IS ACCOUNTABLE:

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RESPONSIBILITIES

 

CHAPTER B-1

Ensuring Executive and Legislative Accountability in a Pandemic

Vanessa MacDonnell

 

CHAPTER B-2

Good Governance: Institutions, Processes, and People

Mel Cappe

 

CHAPTER B-3

The Duty to Govern and the Rule of Law in an Emergency

Grégoire Webber 

 

CHAPTER B-4

Does Debunking Work? Correcting COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media

Timothy Caulfield

 

CHAPTER B-5

The Media Paradox and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jeffrey Simpson

 

CHAPTER B-6

Governmental Power and COVID-19:

The Limits of Judicial Review

Paul Daly

 

CHAPTER B-7

Liability of the Crown in Times of Pandemic

Marie-France Fortin 

 

CHAPTER B-8

Balancing Risk and Reward in the Time of COVID-19:

Bridging the Gap Between Public Interest and the "Best Interests of the Corporation"

Jennifer A. Quaid

 

 

SECTION C: CIVIL LIBERTIES VS. IDEAS OF PUBLIC HEALTH 

 

CHAPTER C-1

Civil Liberties vs. Public Health

Colleen M. Flood, Bryan Thomas, and Dr. Kumanan Wilson

 

CHAPTER C-2

Privacy, Ethics, and Contact-Tracing Apps

Teresa Scassa, Jason Millar, and Kelly Bronson

 

CHAPTER C-3

Should Immunity Licences be an Ingredient in our Policy Response to COVID-19?

Daniel Weinstock and Vardit Ravitsky

 

CHAPTER C-4

The Punitive Impact of Physical Distancing Laws on Homeless People

Terry Skolnik

 

CHAPTER C-5

The Right of Citizens Abroad to Return During a Pandemic

Yves Le Bouthillier and Delphine Nakache

 

 

SECTION D: EQUITY AND COVID-19

 

CHAPTER D-1

How Should We Allocate Health and Social Resources During a Pandemic?

Sridhar Venkatapuram

 

CHAPITRE D-2

COVID-19 et âgisme : crise annoncée dans les centres de soins de longue durée et réponse improvisée ?

Martine Lagacé, Linda Garcia et Louise Bélanger-Hardy

 

CHAPTER D-3

Fault Lines: COVID-19, the Charter, and Long-term Care

Martha Jackman

 

CHAPTER D-4

The Front line Defence: Housing and Human Rights in the Time of COVID-19

Leilani Farha and Kaitlin Schwan

 

CHAPTER D-5

COVID-19 in Canadian Prisons: Policies, Practices and Concerns

Adelina Iftene

 

CHAPTER D-6

Systemic Discrimination in Government Services and Programs and Its Impact on First Nations Peoples During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Anne Levesque and Sophie Thériault 

 

CHAPTER D-7

Preventing the Spread of Anti-Asian Racism:

Including Critical Race Analysis in a Pandemic Plan

Jamie Chai Yun Liew

 

CHAPTER D-8

Migrant Health in a Time of Pandemic:

Fallacies of Us-Versus-Them

Y.Y. Brandon Chen

 

CHAPTER D-9

Not All in This Together: Disability Rights and COVID-19

Tess Sheldon and Ravi Malhotra

 

CHAPTER D-10

Weighing Public Health and Mental Health Responses to Non-Compliance with Public Health Directives in the Context of Mental Illness

Jennifer A. Chandler, Yasmin Khaliq, Mona Gupta, Kwame McKenzie, Simon Hatcher, and Olivia Lee

 

 

SECTION E: THIS JOB IS GONNA KILL ME:

WORKING AND COVID-19

 

CHAPTER E-1

Privatization and COVID-19: A Deadly Combination for Nursing Homes

Pat Armstrong, Hugh Armstrong, and Ivy Bourgeault

 

CHAPTER E-2

A View from the Front Lines of a COVID-19 Outbreak

Jane Philpott

 

CHAPTER E-3

Occupational Health and Safety and COVID-19:

Whose Rights Come First in a Pandemic?

Katherine Lippel

 

CHAPTER E-4

Risking It All: Providing Patient Care and Whistleblowing During a Pandemic

Vanessa Gruben and Louise Bélanger-Hardy

 

CHAPTER E-5

Worked to the Bone: COVID-19, the Agrifood Labour Force, and the Need for More Compassionate Post-Pandemic Food Systems

Sarah Berger Richardson

 

 

SECTION F: GLOBAL HEALTH AND GOVERNANCE

 

CHAPTER F-1

"Flattening the Curve" Through COVID-19 Contagion Containment

Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram

 

CHAPTER F-2

The Plausibility and Resolvability of Legal Claims Against China and WHO under the International Health Regulations (2005)

Sam Halabi and Kumanan Wilson 

 

CHAPTER F-3

COVID-19 and Africa: Does "One Size Fit All" in Public Health Intervention?

Chidi Oguamanam

 

CHAPTER F-4

Border Closures: A Pandemic of Symbolic Acts in the Time of COVID-19

Steven J. Hoffman and Patrick Fafard

 

CHAPTER F-5

COVID-19 and Accountable Artificial Intelligence in a Global Context

Céline Castets-Renard and Eleonore Fournier-Tombs

 

CHAPTER F-6

International Trade, Intellectual Property, and Innovation Policy:

Lessons from a Pandemic

Jeremy de Beer and E. Richard Gold

 

CHAPTER F-7

COVID-19 Vaccines as Global Public Goods

Jason W. Nickerson and Matthew Herder





Biographies

About the author

Vanessa MacDonnell is Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and Co-Director of the uOttawa Public Law Centre. She researches in the areas of Canadian constitutional law, constitutional theory, comparative constitutional law, and criminal law and procedure.

Summary

Vulnerable confronts the vulnerabilities and interconnectedness made visible by the pandemic, along with legal, ethical, and policy responses. It examines vulnerabilities for individuals; within our institutions, governance, and legal structures; and in other countries and at the global level, where persistent injustices affect us all.

Product details

• Authors: Colleen M. (University of Ottawa) Macdonnel Flood
• Assisted by: Colleen M Flood (Editor), Colleen M. Flood (Editor), Colleen M. (University of Ottawa) Flood (Editor), Vanessa MacDonnell (Editor), Vanessa (University of Ottawa) MacDonnell (Editor), Jane Philpott (Editor), The Honourable Jane Philpott (Editor), Sophie (University of Ottawa) Theriault (Editor), Sridhar (King's College) Venkatapuram (Editor)
• Publisher: University Of Ottawa Press
• Languages: French
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 14.07.2020
• EAN: 9780776636405
• ISBN: 978-0-7766-3640-5
• No. of pages: 648
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > Social education, social work; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Clinical medicine; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general)