Part of the strength of Canada’s political system is its federal structure and the perennial back and forth between Ottawa and the Provinces. The fact that regional differences are accommodated within a common framework of shared responsibilities is a strength of our system of government and in normal times the endless bickering is really a sign that everyone is still talking. However, as the recent pandemic has illustrated, during times of crisis the tug of war can be less productive with both Ottawa and the provinces to blame as they engage in short term politics.
Here is an old joke. The UN Secretary-General commissions a report on elephants from all of the member countries. The United States hands in “How to Raise Elephants for Fun and Profit,” the United Kingdom sends “Should You Invite an Elephant to Tea,” France sends in “The Love Life of the Elephant.” And Canada? Why it sends in “The Elephant: A Federal or Provincial Responsibility.” That is funny – well at least to some people. “Vaccines: A Federal or Provincial Responsibility?” That is not so funny to anyone given the current spread of COVID-19 variants and the race to vaccinate.
So, what’s up with Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu? All of a sudden, the Federal Health Minister takes to the media with pronouncements that vaccines are having an impact and that the public is anxious about getting their shot but that the provinces (especially Ontario) are not getting the vaccines out fast enough. Moreover, the Federal Health Minister now plans to monitor that vaccines are being used in a timely fashion after delivery to the provinces and territories and plans to post weekly figures showing how many vaccines have been delivered, and how many have been administered on a province-by-province basis. According to the Health Minister: “I think this is something Canadians want to know. They want to know how efficiently vaccines are getting out the door, and they are also curious when it will be their turn.”
Really? A new type of federalism to add to the lexicon: “Watchdog federalism” with the federal government as a large dog that barks constantly but never bites. After all, the federal government has left the heavy lifting to the provinces when it comes to vaccine delivery aside from negotiating one of the biggest options contracts in Canadian history designed to vaccinate Canadians many times over – eventually. Why did the federal government not invoke the emergency powers it has under the constitution to invest in its own emergency vaccine production and distribution network? The UK apparently was able to ramp up production virtually from scratch in nine months – we will get domestic vaccine production in 2027. The federal government’s reluctance to invoke the emergency act early on to deal with the pandemic in the end was probably political. After all, it would be the second Trudeau in Canadian history to have invoked the emergency powers of the federal government and how would that play in the next election?
It is likely that an election is indeed in the offing. One wonders if the Federal government’s response to this crisis would have been different if it had been a majority rather than a minority government. Its actions in dealing with the pandemic always proceeded with a timidity that one could interpret as being more concerned with political optics than getting the job done. Its lagging behaviour in dealing with the pandemic at the outset was a factor in its spread and Ottawa continues to lag. It took almost a year for the federal government – which incidentally under the constitution also has the power of quarantine – to set up a quarantining program for returning air travelers and that program is as porous as everything else. Apparently, about of quarter of returning air travelers have been getting exemptions of one form or another. That probably explains why all three new variants – UK, Brazilian, South African - have gotten a foothold in Canada – the only country to do so. Furthermore, the delay in March in federally procured vaccine supplies arriving provided a one-month lag in vaccinating ahead of the variants allowing for their foothold to grow.
The supply of vaccines has now finally begun to increase. The federal response now? Delivery is a provincial responsibility and they are going to monitor and constantly point out provincial shortfalls rather than do something constructive like send in the military to help vaccinate. Unfortunately, Canadians have the attention span and memory of a fruit fly and if repeated often enough will come to believe that any failures during the pandemic were all the province’s fault – just in time for the next federal election.
