PART IPublic Welfare Emergency
Interpretation
Marginal note
efinitions
5 In this Part,
declaration of a public welfare emergency means a proclamation issued pursuant to subsection 6(1); (déclaration de sinistre)
public welfare emergency means an emergency that is caused by a real or imminent
- (a) fire, flood, drought, storm, earthquake or other natural phenomenon,
- (b) disease in human beings, animals or plants, or
- (c) accident or pollution
and that results or may result in a danger to life or property, social disruption or a breakdown in the flow of essential goods, services or resources, so serious as to be a national emergency. (sinistre)
Declaration of a Public Welfare Emergency
Marginal note
eclaration of a public welfare emergency
- 6 (1) When the Governor in Council believes, on reasonable grounds, that a public welfare emergency exists and necessitates the taking of special temporary measures for dealing with the emergency, the Governor in Council, after such consultation as is required by section 14, may, by proclamation, so declare.
- Marginal note:Contents
(2) A declaration of a public welfare emergency shall specify
- (a) concisely the state of affairs constituting the emergency;
- (b) the special temporary measures that the Governor in Council anticipates may be necessary for dealing with the emergency; and
- (c) if the direct effects of the emergency do not extend to the whole of Canada, the area of Canada to which the direct effects of the emergency extend.
Marginal note:Effective date
- 7 (1) A declaration of a public welfare emergency is effective on the day on which it is issued, but a motion for confirmation of the declaration shall be laid before each House of Parliament and be considered in accordance with section 58.
- Marginal note:Expiration of declaration
(2) A declaration of a public welfare emergency expires at the end of ninety days unless the declaration is previously revoked or continued in accordance with this Act.
Orders and Regulations
Marginal note:Orders and regulations
- 8 (1) While a declaration of a public welfare emergency is in effect, the Governor in Council may make such orders or regulations with respect to the following matters as the Governor in Council believes, on reasonable grounds, are necessary for dealing with the emergency:
- (a) the regulation or prohibition of travel to, from or within any specified area, where necessary for the protection of the health or safety of individuals;
- (b) the evacuation of persons and the removal of personal property from any specified area and the making of arrangements for the adequate care and protection of the persons and property;
- (c) the requisition, use or disposition of property;
- (d) the authorization of or direction to any person, or any person of a class of persons, to render essential services of a type that that person, or a person of that class, is competent to provide and the provision of reasonable compensation in respect of services so rendered;
- (e) the regulation of the distribution and availability of essential goods, services and resources;
- (f) the authorization and making of emergency payments;
- (g) the establishment of emergency shelters and hospitals;
- (h) the assessment of damage to any works or undertakings and the repair, replacement or restoration thereof;
- (i) the assessment of damage to the environment and the elimination or alleviation of the damage; and
- (j) the imposition
- (i) on summary conviction, of a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both that fine and imprisonment, or
- (ii) on indictment, of a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding five years or both that fine and imprisonment,
- for contravention of any order or regulation made under this section.