The Supreme Court of British Columbia released its decision in Cambie Surgeries Corporation v. British Columbia (Attorney General). The plaintiffs claimed that provisions in the Medicare Protection Act violate rights under ss. 7 and 15 of the Charter, specifically the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination. The court did not find an infringement of either section (finding that an infringement of security of the person was nonetheless in accordance with principles of fundamental justice). The case is expected to end in the Supreme Court of Canada.
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See also the recent book Is Two-Tier Health Care the Future?, a dive into the public-private health care debate in Canada.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia released its decision in Cambie Surgeries Corporation v. British Columbia (Attorney General). The plaintiffs claimed that provisions in the Medicare Protection Act violate rights under ss. 7 and 15 of the Charter, specifically the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination. The court did not find an infringement of either section (finding that an infringement of security of the person was nonetheless in accordance with principles of fundamental justice). The case is expected to end in the Supreme Court of Canada.
Full text >
See also the recent book Is Two-Tier Health Care the Future?, a dive into the public-private health care debate in Canada.
We are in the thick of unprecedented times. CHLPE members are at work on many dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis. Please check in regularly—or sign up for our newsletter to receive news, media, and event updates.
Now available free is Vulnerable: The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19, published by the University of Ottawa Press. This book brings together 70 contributors from law, policy, ethics, medicine, health sciences, economics, management, and more. e-editions of Vulnerable are free of charge; print copies are available for purchase.
We are in the thick of unprecedented times. CHLPE members are at work on many dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis. Please check in regularly—or sign up for our newsletter to receive news, media, and event updates.
Now available free is Vulnerable: The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19, published by the University of Ottawa Press. This book brings together 70 contributors from law, policy, ethics, medicine, health sciences, economics, management, and more. e-editions of Vulnerable are free of charge; print copies are available for purchase.
Vulnerabilities and interconnectedness at the centre of the COVID-19 pandemic are examined in this new series of articles in Policy Options. At issue are the vulnerabilities of people harmed by the virus directly as well as those harmed by our measures to slow the virus’s march; vulnerabilities in our institutions, governance and legal structures; and vulnerabilities in other countries and the global level.
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Professor Patrick Fafard (Public Policy) is first author on a study of to what extent messaging by provincial chief medical officers of health varied across jurisdictions and over time in the early months of the pandemic.
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Professor Chidi Oguamanam (Law) addresses the lack of credible statistics on the extent of the COVID-19 infection in African countries and the absence of significant palliatives for ordinary citizens, businesses and corporations.
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As countries scramble to develop a vaccine to combat COVID-19, consider the possibility that although your taxes are funding a great deal of that research and testing, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be inoculated if and when a vaccine becomes available. Why? Because it’s possible that the patent will be owned by a pharmaceutical company that will decide who can get it and how much they’ll have to pay for it. The Ottawa Citizeninterviews Colleen Flood on the conception and delivery of the book Vulnerable: The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19, where 40 contributors address this and many similar topics.
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Staying healthy as work resumes for many is going to require employees to not only strictly adhere to preventative measures — like hand hygiene and physical distancing — but to know their rights, say experts in infectious disease and occupational health and safety law. CBC interviews Prof. Katherine Lippel (Law) among others.
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In the weeks and months ahead, politicians, policy experts, academics, businesses, non-profit organizations and the broader public will have to make important choices as we rebuild our lives, societies and the international order. Vanessa MacDonnell, Sophie Thériault, and Sridhar Venkatapuram write in iPolitics.
If a COVID-19 vaccine arrives, should it be mandatory? Would that create a new privileged class of citizen?
State obligations, human rights, and the risk of outbreaks in prisons.
The five editors of the recent book Vulnerable discuss the COVID-19 crisis from different angles and field questions from the audience.
Tightly regulating the prescription of pain medication because of the opioid epidemic and the collateral damage to patients in pain.
How have human rights and civil liberties fared during the pandemic? Where are the tensions and how should we respond?
Race-based disparities in the impact of COVID-19 and our responses to the virus.
The politics of risk during the pandemic and the use of containment for people with mental health disorders.
Who decides when resuscitation should not be attempted or life-sustaining treatment should cease?
