It is early 2021 and Canada is well into the COVID-19 pandemic. In some provinces the pandemic is being managed well, and in others it isn't. Thankfully vaccines have just become available. However, some provincial governments are opposed to any kind of vaccine passport system or vaccine mandates, and it is in these provinces that the case numbers are rising fastest.

The federal government is very concerned about this situation. It is doing what it can to keep the pandemic under control. One of the most important things it has done is start to purchase doses of vaccines and give them to the provinces for distribution. At this point there aren't nearly enough doses for everyone (there likely will be in the coming months) and while there are certainly so-called "anti-vaxxers" who don't want to be vaccinated at all, there are millions of Canadians anxious to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

The federal government has decided that this pandemic has demonstrated that the provinces cannot effectively manage healthcare (while some do, others don't, and that doesn't work in a pandemic). Consequently, the federal government has just introduced a bill into Parliament called theFederal Medicare System Act. Under this statute the federal government says it is banning the provincial governments from running healthcare, and it is making a single national healthcare system under the control of the federal government. The bill has passed second reading.

On a related note, in Ontario the provincial government has mandated (through a regulation) the order in which people may receive the vaccine. It is starting with people who have underlying medical conditions that put them most at risk, then moving on by age group starting with the elderly and with younger people lowest in priority.

The Ontario premier, who is healthy and 40 years old, has secretly skipped the "line" and managed to get herself and her family vaccinated before anyone else. This information has just become public and there is now a police investigation - the allegation is that this action by the premier may be a criminal breach of trust. However, the premier and her supporters are saying that she cannot be charged or convicted while she is in office, because as premier she is immune from prosecution.

QUESTION:

Is it constitutional for the federal government to spend money purchasing vaccines and giving them to the provinces?