Category Archives: COVID-19

The Tragic Effects of COVID-19 in the Long-Term Care Sector

PDF Version: The Tragic Effects of COVID-19 in the Long-Term Care Sector

Matters Commented On: Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Orders 09-2020 and 10-2020

Close to half of Canada’s 1300 COVID-19 deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, with the number of fatalities expected to grow in the coming weeks. News reports reveal shocking conditions in Canadian long-term care homes, including residents in critical condition abandoned by staff, workers without protective equipment, residents begging to die, and conditions so bad that criminal charges may be laid. The situation in Quebec is so dire that the government has implored doctors and other health professionals to help and has requested that the federal government provide military assistance. This blog post addresses the vulnerabilities that COVID-19 has exposed in the long-term care sector, the steps governments have taken to slow the pandemic, and improvements that must be made to better protect residents in the future. Continue reading →

COVID-19 and Cellphone Surveillance

By: Joel Reardon, Emily Laidlaw, and Greg Hagen

PDF Version: COVID-19 and Cellphone Surveillance

Matter Commented On: Premier Jason Kenney’s Address on the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 7, 2020)

Last week in Premier Kenney’s address to the province, he announced (at approximately 10:29 of the video) that a central component of Alberta’s strategy in relation to COVID-19 (and its related SARS-CoV-2 virus) could require the use of technology to enforce quarantine orders: “We will strictly enforce quarantine orders to ensure compliance, including using technology like smartphone apps.” When a spokesperson for the Alberta Privacy Commissioner’s Office raised privacy concerns about the use of a smartphone app to enforce quarantine, the Calgary Herald reported that Premier Kenney dismissed such concerns as “overblown”, seemingly because only a small group of people would be tracked and only for the purposed of enforcing a valid quarantine order. Continue reading →

Domestic Violence and Legal Responses to COVID-19 in Alberta

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: Domestic Violence and Legal Responses to COVID-19 in Alberta

Matters Commented On: Ministerial Order No 2020-011 (Community and Social Services); Court of Queen’s Bench Of Alberta, Amended Master Order #2 Relating to Court’s Response to the COVID-19 Virus; Court of Queen’s Bench Of Alberta, Pandemic Operations/ FAQ; The Provincial Court of Alberta, COVID-19 Pandemic Planning for the Scheduling of Matters

Many commentators have remarked on how COVID-19 and government orders to self-isolate will lead to increased rates of domestic violence and adversely impact victims of domestic violence seeking protection. Last weekend, for example, UN Secretary General António Guterres remarked that there has already been a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” and urged “all governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part of their national response plans for COVID-19.” The law clearly has a significant role to play in this context. As noted in a previous post, domestic violence matters engage many legal issues: civil protection order law, criminal law, family and child protection law, residential tenancies law, social assistance and housing law, and employment law, to name a few. This post reviews some of the efforts of lawmakers and courts in Alberta to respond to domestic violence issues in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies some areas where further measures are needed. My focus is on domestic violence – in other words, violence in the context of intimate partner relationships – rather than child or elder abuse. Child and elder abuse cases also present challenging issues in the current pandemic, but they are beyond the scope of my analysis here. Continue reading →

COVID-19 and the Suspension of Energy Reporting and Well Suspension Requirements in Alberta

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: COVID-19 and the Suspension of Energy Reporting and Well Suspension Requirements in Alberta

Order Commented On: Ministerial Order 219/2020 (Energy)

Section 52.1 of the Public Health Act, RSA 2000, c P-37 provides a minister with power to suspend, modify, or effectively amend the application of legislation which they are responsible for under the Government Organization Act, RSA 2000, c G-10. Ministerial orders exercising this power are being made with increasing frequency during the COVID-19 emergency, and these orders, together with other public health orders issued by Alberta during this crisis, are published here. One should also keep an eye on the Queen’s Printer website for Orders-in-Council which enact new, or amend existing, regulations to address COVID-19. Readers may recall that I previously commented here on Ministerial Order 17/2020 (Environment and Parks) which suspends routine environmental reporting. This post looks at Ministerial Order 219/2020 issued by the Minister of Energy on April 6, 2020 which suspends some reporting and inactive well suspension requirements under energy legislation. Continue reading →

The Effects of COVID-19 on the Health System: Legal and Ethical Tensions Part II

By: Lorian Hardcastle

PDF Version: The Effects of COVID-19 on the Health System: Legal and Ethical Tensions Part II

Matter Commented On: COVID-19 in Alberta and Canada

Since it appeared in Canada at the end of January, the number of cases of COVID-19 has steadily increased. Despite considerable efforts to contain the spread of the disease, Canada has seen over 1000 new cases per day since late March, with this number reaching 1600 new cases in a single day on April 5. On April 7, 58 people succumbed to the disease in one day. The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak raises numerous pressing legal and ethical tensions. In a previous ABlawg post, I examined the trade-offs that governments have made between individual liberties and protecting the public good. In this post, I consider two additional legal and ethical tensions: health care priority setting in the face of scarce resources and the disproportionate effects of public health measures on vulnerable people. Continue reading →