Good Pandemic People: Citizenship and Ethical Striving During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ottawa, Ontario

Abstract

When the COVID-19 pandemic first reached Ottawa, Canada in March 2020, the lives of nearly all residents were dramatically impacted. From the loss of jobs to the loss of loved ones, many experienced an intense period of loneliness, fear, and uncertainty. This thesis explores residents’ experiences of the pandemic in Ottawa and how these were shaped by the state’s response to COVID-19, namely its public health and economic response. It is based on fieldwork conducted during the first waves of COVID-19, which combined participant observation, interviews, and online observation. It begins by exploring how the state called on residents to take responsibility for public health, thereby enacting a certain type of citizenship, and the ethical striving of my interlocutors to become responsible. It then focuses on how state officials urged people to use their common sense at the limits of state advice and how my informants attempted to cultivate their ability to make safe decisions. Lastly, it analyzes how the introduction of CERB, a social program that targeted un- and underemployed Canadians, renewed public discourse about the purpose of welfare and how the program served as a technology of government that encouraged applicants to reflect on their receipt of the benefit.