First Ontario, then Alberta, and finally British Columbia have all declared an emergency over coronavirus, as the number of coronavirus cases in this country rise substantially.

While the levels differ slightly — Ontario has declared a general state of emergency, whereas Alberta’s is specific to public health, and British Columbia began with a public health emergency that was upgraded Wednesday — they all unlock sweeping new powers for the three provinces hit hardest by the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called this an “unprecedented time in our history," while hours later Alberta Premier Jason Kenney described his province’s public health emergency as “frankly necessary.”

The news came as Ontario confirmed its first death of a patient with COVID-19, while Alberta saw its number of cases rise to 97, including at least one in every geographic “zone” of the province.

But at a late afternoon press conference Tuesday, it was British Columbia that revealed it had been arguably hardest hit, confirming the province has seen three more COVID-19-related deaths, bringing its total to seven, as well as 83 additional coronavirus cases.

Adrian Dix, B.C. health minister, called the state of public health emergency a “dramatic step” but one that was necessary to prepare for the weeks and months to come.

“We are very appreciative of the consequences they can have for people, and what they mean for people, people not being able to do what they want.”

On Wednesday, the province upgraded further to a provincial state of emergency.

But what does a declaration of emergency mean for the residents of a province? What does it mean for government?

A province can declare a public health emergency if it has cause to worry about public health, and officials think a more co-ordinated approach would help. Doing so grants a government special powers for a limited amount of time.

In Alberta’s case, according to the Public Health Act, declaring an emergency allows the government or health authority to aquire or use property, require a qualified person to help out, authorize the conscription of people needed or authorize the entry into buildings or onto land without a warrant. An emergency order generally lapses after 30 days, but can be renewed.

Ontario’s Emergency Management Act, meanwhile, also allows the government to do things such as restrict travel, shut down business and schools, and fix prices for certain goods. The order lasts for 14 days unless renewed.

Health Minister Dix said the declaration in B.C. gives the public health officer the power to make immediate verbal orders. "The provincial health officer can also compel any and all peace officers to enforce her verbal orders," Dix said.

The general idea of a state of emergency, explained Stewart Prest, a lecturer in politcal science at Simon Fraser University, is to do away with some of the traditional checks and balances on government and allow it to react to a crisis faster.

It also makes sense for each province to address the pandemic in a way that makes sense for its own circumstances — we may yet see a national state of emergency, but such circumstances are rare.

“Basically, you can think about it as a tailoring of the provision of services,” he says, pointing out that the three provinces that have made the move also have the highest rates of COVID-19.

“It gives the government a little more flexibility of the pace in which they react and the kinds of strategies they implement,” he said.

Anytime you sidestep normal legislative power, there’s potential for abuse. But, Prest says, there are checks on the new powers being taken by governments here.

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“One is that this power is clearly intended to be temporary. So once the immediate crisis has passed, one would expect the emergency to be declared over and government to return to normal and, when that doesn't happen, then that's clearly clearly a warning sign,” he said.

Zahid Butt, an epidemiologist who teaches in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at Waterloo University, said the measures make sense given the “extraordinary circumstances” of the past few days, as they force people to keep their distance and help reduce the burden on the health-care system.

Although there’s not a lot of data on coronavirus yet, he said, the closest comparision is to China, where very strict social distancing measures seem to have slowed the pace of new infections.

The only catch, he says, is it can take months to know whether these measures have worked.

“If you are able to stop the transmission earlier on, then definitely you’ll see a decline, so it’ll depend on the timing of when you implemented these measures,” he said.

The declarations of emergency also come with sweeping new rules that will see many business, public gathering places and recreation facilities across the country shut their doors.

Under the new Alberta rules, any organized gathering of more than 50 people, including weddings, must be cancelled immediately. To limit the amount of time spent in crowds, Albertans are prohibited from entering most recreational or entertainment facilities, including bars, museums and gyms.

Restaurants and coffee shops will be allowed to remain open, but must keep their occupancy below 50 people or half their authorized capacity, whichever is fewer. Take out and delivery of food can continue.

The Alberta government explained that essential services, including health-care facilities, grocery stores, shopping centres, the legislature and airports, will not be affected.

The state of emergency declared by Ontario Premier Doug Ford mandates the closure of bars, restaurants, theatres, libraries and banning public events with more than 50 people. The declaration's intent is to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and avoid overwhelming the health-care system, Ford said.

“This is a serious moment in our history,” Alberta’s Kenney said Tuesday, “and COVID-19 will test all of us.”

With files from The Canadian Press

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