COVID-19 and First Nations’ Responses

Authors

Aimée Craft, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa
Deborah McGregor, Osgoode Hall Law School of York UniversityFollow
Jeffery G. Hewitt, Osgoode Hall Law School of York UniversityFollow

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2020

Source Publication

Flood, Colleen M. et al. Vulnerable : the Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19 . Ottawa, Ontario: University of Ottawa Press, 2020.

Abstract

This chapter considers the federal government’s fettering of jurisdiction through inaction in the areas of clean water and housing. We consider a small sample of First Nations’ responses, taken on the basis of their assertions of jurisdiction and responses to the particular needs and circumstances of their communities. We conclude that First Nations are best positioned to make policy and law in response to COVID-19, and that the federal government can and must work with First Nations communities on resourcing their plans for wellness and emergency preparedness in relation to the pandemic, in accordance with a sui generis application of the constitutional principle of subsidiarity in conjunction with other constitutional obligations such as the fiduciary duty of the Crown and its duty to act honourably. This chapter is contextualized by the theme of self-determination in Indigenous health, s. 35 of the Constitution Act, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Repository Citation

Craft, Aimée; McGregor, Deborah; and Hewitt, Jeffery G., "COVID-19 and First Nations’ Responses" (2020). Articles & Book Chapters. 2847.
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/scholarly_works/2847