Canada’s fractured emergency management system

Abstract

Canada’s emergency legislation, the Emergencies Act, was examined as part of the Public Inquiry into the 2022 Public Order Emergency. This Inquiry recommends several amendments to the Emergencies Act but does so without examining the wider context of Canada’s emergency management system. This paper looks at that context to explain why the only legislative tool available to respond to the 2022 protests was, at best, adequate. The underlying assumption is that Canada has an effective and efficient emergency management system that is only hampered by out-of-date legislation. Examining the historical development shows that the Emergencies Act was drafted in the absence of a robust emergency management system that subsequently evolved in ways that make the legislation further out of step. Amendments to the Emergencies Act must resolve the current overlap with matters of provincial concern that can currently arise during a national emergency for public welfare and public order. Federak emergency powers should only deal with ways the federal government is likely to get involved within its own jurisdictional powers and in light of current federal legislation.