Public health and collaborative federalism: Or why an allegedly weak system to prevent pandemics is not the result of intergovernmental relations, collaborative or otherwise

Abstract

The predominant view among public health specialists (or at least those who have had the opportunity to comment in print), is that federalism is inimical to the pursuit of good public health. In particular, their is a dominant public health argument that argues that, to effectively respond to public health emergencies, like a pandemic, the Government of Canada should have more authority. In this paper I argue that this particular public heath critique of Canadian federalism incorrect. It is built on a misunderstanding of the nature of Canadian intergovernmental relations, an overly simplistic and narrow interpretation what motivates and constrains both orders of government and, more generally, betrays a broader tendency in public health to assume that science and social justice (or at least a particular conception of each) should drive the policy making process and trump politics leaving no room for federalism, collaborative or otherwise.