States of emergency in Canada

A state of emergency occurs when a government assumes authority it does not generally possess to respond to a crisis. Typically, this is done by invoking said authority under specific legislation, and permits the government to expend funds, mobilize forces, or suspend civil liberties.

Federal declarations

The Canadian government has declared a state of emergency three times in its history. All three of these occurred in the 20th century and were done under the authority of the War Measures Act. In 1988, Parliament replaced the War Measures Act with the Emergencies Act, which extended the powers beyond war applications.

Uses

Main article: War Measures Act

Provincial and territorial legislation and declarations

Historically, states of emergency have been declared by provinces for internal issues. Save for the 2004 White Juan Blizzard, until 2020 there had never been a situation where multiple provinces made a province wide declaration. This changed during the COVID-19 pandemic where every province and territory made the declaration, opposing similar measures from the federal government. Every province has the ability to assume emergency powers under either a specific emergency act or under a public health act. In some provinces, like British Columbia, both exist and can grant specific authorities. British Columbia is also notable for its early adoption of an emergency act. Its Civil Defense Act[1] was enacted in 1951, and was renamed the Emergency Program Act in 1973.[2]

List of emergency declarations in the provinces and territories
Year Event Province Act
2003 SARS outbreak Ontario Emergency Management Act[3]
2003 British Columbia Wildfires British Columbia Emergency Program Act[4]
2003 Northeast Blackout Ontario Emergency Management Act[5]
2004 White Juan Blizzard Nova Scotia Emergency Measures Act[6]
Prince Edward Island Emergency Measures Act[6]
2011 Manitoba floods Manitoba Emergency Measures Act[7]
2013 Alberta floods Alberta Emergency Management Act[8]
2014 Assiniboine River flood Manitoba Emergency Measures Act [9][10]
2016 Fort McMurray wildfire Alberta Emergency Management Act[11]
2016 Opioid epidemic British Columbia Public Health Act[12][13]
2017 British Columbia wildfires British Columbia Emergency Program Act[4][14][15]
2019 Snow storm Manitoba Emergency Measures Act[9][10][16]
2020 COVID-19 pandemic Alberta Public Health Act[17]
British Columbia Emergency Program Act and Public Health Act[12][18]
Manitoba Emergency Measures Act[19]
New Brunswick Emergency Measures Act[18][20]
Newfoundland and Labrador Public Health Protection and Promotion Act[18]
Nova Scotia Health Protection Act[21][22]
Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act[23]
Prince Edward Island Public Health Act[24]
Quebec Public Health Act[25][26]
Saskatchewan Emergency Planning Act[18]
Northwest Territories Public Health Act[18]
Nunavut Public Health Act[27]
Yukon Civil Emergency Measures Act[28][29]

References
  1. "Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1960". HER Online.
  2. "Table of Statutes - Repealed, Replaced and Renamed". www.bclaws.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  3. Bruton, Bob (20 March 2020). "COVID-19 Pandemic is Ontario's 3rd state of emergency – Barrie 360Barrie 360". Barrie 360. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  4. Infrastructure, Transportation and (7 July 2017). "Provincial state of emergency declared". news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  5. Van Rijn, Nicholaas (August 15, 2003). "BLACKOUT: Eves declares state of emergency and warns of rolling power outages for 'weeks to come'". Toronto Star (Special ed.). Toronto.
  6. "Storm puts Nova Scotia, PEI in state of emergency". Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  7. "Manitoba intensifies flood fight effort". CBC News.
  8. "Review and Analysis of the Government of Alberta's Response to and Recovery from 2013 Floods" (PDF). Alberta.ca.
  9. Hatherly, Dana. "Manitoba to declare state of emergency due to October snowstorm". CBC News.
  10. Mar 18, Victoria Gibson Published on; 2020 2:05pm (18 March 2020). "ANALYSIS: States of emergency across Canada, what's been done before, and what can be done now". iPolitics. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  11. "Evacuation order expanded ahead of Fort McMurray fire". CTVNews. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  12. Health (17 March 2020). "Joint statement on Province of B.C.'s COVID-19 response, latest updates". news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  13. "B.C. first in Canada to declare public health emergency after fentanyl overdoses - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  14. Press, The Canadian (15 August 2018). "British Columbia declares state of emergency over wildfires - BNN Bloomberg". BNN. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  15. "B.C. declares state of emergency over wildfires - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  16. Lambert, Steve (14 October 2019). "State of emergency in Manitoba amid unprecedented snowstorm". CTVNews. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  17. Black, Matthew (17 March 2020). "'The situation is very serious': COVID-19 pandemic prompts Alberta to declare a state of public health emergency". Edmonton. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  18. News (15 April 2020). "As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, provinces declared states of emergency. Now many are up for renewal | National Post". Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  19. "Province of Manitoba | News Releases | Manitoba Government Declares State of Emergency to Protect the Public, Reduce Spread of COVID-19". Province of Manitoba. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  20. "7 things to know about NB's Emergency Measures Act". CBC News.
  21. "Nova Scotia declares state of emergency, announces 7 new cases of COVID-19". Global News. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  22. Gorman, Michael. "The powers of N.S.'s Health Protection Act and what can happen if you don't listen". CBC News.
  23. "Ontario Enacts Declaration of Emergency to Protect the Public". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  24. "Premier announces initial financial support, declares public health emergency". www.princeedwardisland.ca. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  25. "COVID-19: Legault declares a public health emergency". Montreal. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  26. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Québec". www.quebec.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  27. "Nunavut declares state of public health emergency". CBC News.
  28. "Yukon declares state of emergency in response to COVID-19". yukon.ca. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  29. "Yukon declares public health emergency over COVID-19 pandemic". CBC News.
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