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It is a well-worn joke, but it still has some bite: Three students — one British, one French, and one Canadian — are assigned to compose an essay on the elephant. The British student drafts “The Elephant: A Product of Empire.” The French student writes “The Elephant: A Story of Love.” The Canadian comes up with “The Elephant: A Federal or Provincial Responsibility?”

Obsessions with jurisdiction are even more pronounced during crises like the pandemic. Over the past twenty months or so, Canadians have been both witnesses to and subjects of a vast experiment in the exercise of federal and provincial powers. We have seen and experienced the sometimes clumsy, sometimes adept efforts to protect and inoculate us against the SARS‑CoV‑2 virus and its variants. And we have been reminded that, by necessity, these levels of government must work together when safeguarding our health and well-being.

COVID-19 may be the greatest hazard to public safety since the Second...