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.

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

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.