A Human Rights Approach to Emergency Response? The Advocacy of Canada's Human Rights Commissions During the COVID-19 Crisis

Emergencies can undermine human rights by disrupting societies, increasing vulnerabilities, and prompting extraordinary responses from governments and other actors. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial human rights commissions (HRCs) have mobilized to advocate for upholding human rights. Based on an original dataset and content analysis of HRCs’ official statements in response to COVID-19, this research note examines the points of consistency and variation in HRCs’ advocacy for human rights during the COVID-19 crisis. It shows how HRCs have highlighted core human rights issues and obligations, and advocated for various policies and practices that promote respect for human rights during the COVID-19 crisis. In an emergency typically framed in terms of public health and safety, aggregating and comparatively analyzing these Canadian human rights authorities’ advocacy provides a foundation for deliberating whether and how a human rights approach to COVID-19 response should be pursued.