Vaccination and the Law in Ontario and Nova Scotia (1800 - 1924)

Since the discovery of smallpox vaccination in the late eighteenth century, Western societies have often confronted the question of whether the state can justifiably impose the procedure on its citizens in the interest of safeguarding general public health. This question is at the heart of ongoing controversies regarding whether to require mandatory vaccination to check a resurgence of childhood diseases such as measles. While there are social and medical histories of the application of vaccination to the problem of infectious diseases in Canada, much remains unknown about the legal history of the procedure, including, specifically, the nature and scope of legal mechanisms used to enforce vaccinations and the factors -- legal, social or otherwise -- that account for the effectiveness, success or failure of these mechanisms. This dissertation addresses this gap through the lens of the legal history of smallpox vaccination in Ontario and Nova Scotia in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It provides an original, comprehensive account of vaccination law and policy in nineteenth century Canada, encompassing the factors and ideologies that triggered and shaped the legal regulation of smallpox vaccination, the processes, design, content and outcomes of legal regulation, challenges associated with the implementation and enforcement of vaccination laws, and the influence or impact of broader social and political arrangements and norms. It also provides a firsthand account of why and to what extent mandatory approaches to vaccination were utilized in preventing the introduction and spread of smallpox, how such approaches were fashioned, and the reasons why they succeeded or failed to achieve stated regulatory aims. The study shows that approaches to vaccination varied between Ontario and Nova Scotia, and that the effectiveness of vaccination policies depended on the design of legal measures utilized, strong and responsive (local) government, holistic approaches that eschew a singular focus on vaccination over other methods of fighting infectious diseases, the absence of ideological contests over the legitimacy of mandatory vaccination, availability of financial resources to support the administration of vaccination, heightened and sustained threats of infectious diseases, and a population that is generally supportive of public health interventions.

Department dc:contributor.department

Law

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Ogbogu, Ubaka Leo

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Trudo, Lemmens

• Canadian History
• Infectious Diseases
• Low Law
• Public Health
• Smallpox
• Vaccination

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1807/68441

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/68441