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
- Ukrainian Canadian internment, 1914-1920
- Internment of Japanese Canadians and Internment of Italian Canadians, 1940-1949
- October Crisis, 1970
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]
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] |
2018 | British Columbia wildfires | British Columbia | Emergency Program Act[16] |
2019 | Snow storm | Manitoba | Emergency Measures Act[9][10][17] |
2020 | COVID-19 pandemic | Alberta [a] | Public Health Act[18][19] |
British Columbia | Emergency Program Act and Public Health Act[12][20] | ||
Manitoba | Emergency Measures Act[21] | ||
New Brunswick | Emergency Measures Act[20][22] | ||
Newfoundland and Labrador | Public Health Protection and Promotion Act[20] | ||
Nova Scotia | Health Protection Act[23][24] | ||
Ontario [b] | Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act[25][26] | ||
Prince Edward Island | Public Health Act[27] | ||
Quebec | Public Health Act[28][29] | ||
Saskatchewan | Emergency Planning Act[20] | ||
Northwest Territories | Public Health Act[20] | ||
Nunavut | Public Health Act[30] | ||
Yukon | Civil Emergency Measures Act[31][32] | ||
2021 | Wildfire | British Columbia | Emergency Program Act[33][34] |
COVID-19 pandemic | Ontario | Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act[35] | |
Nova Scotia | Health Protection Act[36] | ||
New Brunswick | Emergency Measures Act[37] | ||
Alberta | Public Health Act[38] | ||
Pacific Northwest Floods | British Columbia | Emergency Program Act[39] |
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ "Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1960". HER Online.
- ^ "Table of Statutes - Repealed, Replaced and Renamed". www.bclaws.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Bruton, Bob (20 March 2020). "COVID-19 Pandemic is Ontario's 3rd state of emergency – Barrie 360Barrie 360". Barrie 360. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ a b Infrastructure, Transportation and (7 July 2017). "Provincial state of emergency declared". news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Storm puts Nova Scotia, PEI in state of emergency". Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "Manitoba intensifies flood fight effort". CBC News.
- ^ "Review and Analysis of the Government of Alberta's Response to and Recovery from 2013 Floods" (PDF). Alberta.ca.
- ^ a b Hatherly, Dana. "Manitoba to declare state of emergency due to October snowstorm". CBC News.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Evacuation order expanded ahead of Fort McMurray fire". CTVNews. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "B.C. first in Canada to declare public health emergency after fentanyl overdoses - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Press, The Canadian (15 August 2018). "British Columbia declares state of emergency over wildfires - BNN Bloomberg". BNN. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "B.C. declares state of emergency over wildfires - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "Provincial state of emergency declared". BC Gov News. 15 August 2018.
- ^ Lambert, Steve (14 October 2019). "State of emergency in Manitoba amid unprecedented snowstorm". CTVNews. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Alberta enacts 2nd COVID-19 state of public health emergency. Here's what it means". Global News.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "7 things to know about NB's Emergency Measures Act". CBC News.
- ^ "Nova Scotia declares state of emergency, announces 7 new cases of COVID-19". Global News. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Gorman, Michael. "The powers of N.S.'s Health Protection Act and what can happen if you don't listen". CBC News.
- ^ "Ontario Enacts Declaration of Emergency to Protect the Public". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "Ontario issuing stay-at-home order, declares 3rd state of emergency amid COVID-19 pandemic". Global News. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ "Premier announces initial financial support, declares public health emergency". www.princeedwardisland.ca. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "COVID-19: Legault declares a public health emergency". Montreal. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Québec". www.quebec.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "Nunavut declares state of public health emergency". CBC News.
- ^ "Yukon declares state of emergency in response to COVID-19". yukon.ca. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "Yukon declares public health emergency over COVID-19 pandemic". CBC News.
- ^ Brady, Sean. "Provincial state of emergency declared in B.C. due to wildfires". Kamloops This Week. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ General, Public Safety and Solicitor (20 July 2021). "Provincial state of emergency declared | BC Gov News". news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Ontario Newsroom". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ Scotia, Communications Nova (11 May 2018). "One New Case of COVID-19, Three Recoveries, State of Emergency Renewed". News Releases. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-new-brunswick-student-transmission-school-church-proof-vaccination-1.6187922.
{{cite news}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-covid-coronavirus-september-21-1.6183699.
{{cite news}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ "Provincial state of emergency declared". BC Gov News. 17 November 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- Emergency laws
- Disasters in Canada