Commissioned Paper: Governing Emergencies in an

Powers exercised under the War Measures Act were upheld by the courts as constitutional under the Peace, Order and Good Government clause.3 At present, Canada relies on two primary statutes to govern emergency management: the Emergencies Act and the Emergency Management Act.4 The Emergencies Act is the legislation that is the focus of the Public Order Emergency Commission. [...] Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act provides: 4 (1) The head of council of a municipality may declare that an emergency exists in the municipality or in any part thereof and may take such action and make such orders as he or she considers necessary and are not contrary to law to implement the emergency plan of the municipality and to protect property and the health, safety and. [...] The Indian Act delegates several powers that have particular salience to emergency management, e.g.: 81 (1) The council of a band may make by-laws not inconsistent with this Act or with any regulation made by the Governor in Council or the Minister, for any or all of the following purposes, namely, (a) to provide for the health of residents on the reserve and to prevent the spreading of contagious. [...] The order in council issued in British Columbia in response to the 2018 wildfires is illustrative of this broad approach: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED pursuant to Section 9(1) of the Emergency Program Act (RSBC 1996, Ch.111) that a state of emergency exists in the Province of British Columbia due to the threat of interface fire affecting lives and property; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Ministry of Publi. [...] 19 In its report on the use of its emergency legislation, Ontario states that it addressed the financing of the convoy through alternate means (a Court order to freeze the distribution of donations), and that existing regulations under the Highway Traffic Act had not been sufficient to address the convoy and blockades.33 The province further states that the Critical Infrastructure and Highways reg.