Overview
On 12 March 2020 Manitoba confirmed its first case of COVID-19. One week later, a province-wide state of emergency was declared, ushering in a new sense of urgency and rarely used government powers to protect Manitobans from the devastating global reach of the novel coronavirus.
The wide-ranging impacts of the pandemic have touched every facet of Manitoba society and provincial responsibility, including health, economic development, social services, and government operations. COVID-19 has challenged the conventional policy-making process—complicating agenda setting and policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation—while governments have been under pressure to make swift decisions in life-and-death matters. New programs must address urgent and shifting health and economic realities, but also anticipate future waves of COVID-19 and potentially significant repercussions for future governments.
COVID-19 in Manitoba: Public Policy Responses to the First Wave seeks to understand how Manitoba fared during the first months of the pandemic, with twenty-seven chapters that address key aspects of the pandemic and discuss how government policy can help lay the foundation for resiliency in the midst a continuing public-health crisis. This open-access volume is an essential resource for citizens and policy-makers alike, as it identifies policy gaps and successes of Manitoba’s early COVID response and points to strategies to prepare for future waves of the pandemic.
About the Authors
Other contributors: William (Bill) Ashton, Fletcher Baragar, Marleny Bonnycastle, Wayne Caldwell, Emily E. Cameron, Andrea Charron, Wayne Clark, Jim Clark, Sarah Cooper, Delia D. Douglas, Diane Driedger, Rachel Dutton, Sara Epp, Bruce Erickson, Scott Forbes, Sid Frankel, Laura Funk, Shannon Furness, Will Goodon, Joan Grace, Julie Guard, Jesse Hajer, Avery Hallberg, Jason Hannan, Stewart Hill, Kathleen Kevany, Kiera Ladner, Lisa Landrum, Paul D. Larson, Josée G. Lavoie, Darcy L. MacPherson, Aaron A. Moore, Natalie Mota, James P. Mulvale, Sally Ogoe, Wanda Phillips-Beck, Susan Prentice, Kristin Reynolds, Razvan G. Romanescu, Leslie E. Roos, Kelly Saunders, Emily C. Sousa, Leona Star, Paul G. Thomas, Shirley Thompson, Lori Wilkinson
