Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
especially public preparedness and governmental responsiveness. If crisis
consciousness and preparedness are weak in canada, responsiveness becomes the
most critical variable the shape the canadian government's capacity to control any
influenza pandemic.
the asian response has an important bearing on canada. Singapore's swift
response to enforce a strict quarantine of people suspected of having SarS in safe
houses deserves canadian attention. critics must question whether the Singapore
model jeopardised the individual rights of SarS-infected victims. arguably,
centralisation and perhaps authoritarianism are necessary in any swift governmental
response to infectious disease. tight surveillance of the SarS victims, who were
put in solitary confinement, constituted an effective deterrent to further infection.
Unlike Hong Kong, where individual rights were emphasised in a way that may
have endangered public safety during the outbreak, the Singapore government was
free from the political burden of protecting individual rights in the fight against
SarS. In Hong Kong, where the business sector was concerned about the impact of
border control on the economy; by contrast Singaporean business did not constrain
the governmental handling of the crisis. the Singaporean experience pointed
to the tremendous state power and unified societal forces that could be galvanised to
prevent the spread of infectious disease. In a small city like Singapore, administrative
centralisation and political authoritarianism are virtues in preventing the population
from being wiped out during the outbreak of a rapidly transmitted infectious disease.
authoritarianism is usually denounced by liberal academics as undesirable in the
process of western-style democratisation, but it is the most effective response against
the encroachment of an influenza pandemic.
However, the Singapore model is not applicable to canada. the argument
that authoritarianism is necessary is surely unacceptable to most canadians, who
champion individual liberties. If an influenza pandemic takes place in Canada, it is
very doubtful whether the public will reach a consensus on any swift action by the
canadian government to contain it. any strict quarantine measure through forced
segregation would be easily seen as a violation of individual rights. trade unions,
which have been traditionally powerful in canada, would likely object to measures
that would quarantine their members. It remains doubtful whether healthcare
workers' unions would support the canadian government's emergency measures
during an outbreak.
business groups would likely argue against temporarily closing the border with
asia, not to mention with the United States, because they perceive border security
measures as detrimental to trade and commerce. as in Hong Kong, where the pro-
capitalist and pro-business government hesitated to impose border control prior to
the apex of SarS because of its fear of any adverse economic impact, canada's
capitalist state would most likely encounter very difficult choices in the event of an
influenza pandemic, although it too would be anxious about negative impacts.
Provincially and locally, there would most probably be a fragmentation of elite
opinion, including both politicians and businesspeople, on the scope of border
control measures, thus complicating the federal government's decisions. Yet the
