When I used to do a lot of travelling—I still do some—to international conferences, it was amazing how people all over the world knew about our court challenges program. They would congratulate Canadians, and often it was included in your introduction, if you were speaking to a conference, that Canada believed so strongly in democracy that it would fund groups to sue itself for its shortcomings and for things it may unconsciously do that have adverse impacts on women or minority groups. It was a huge card we could use to say that we had credibility, when we spoke. We knew of what we spoke because we implemented the values we trumpeted.
Lots of people can brag about their country, and how they believe in this, that, and the other rights, and how “we're better than you are”, and stuff like that. Not that the Canadians do it, but discussing the court challenges program certainly put Canada on a plane that was unique.
And other countries followed the lead. In fact, South Africa started its own centre for judicial support for constitutional cases, and other countries have done similar things. It was not unlike the way the world perceives our health care system. The health care system and court challenges program and the charter: those are the defining characteristics of Canada.
So my own belief is that it is a step back, because what it said was that Canada really means what it says. It really puts its values on the line when it develops something like a court challenges program, which was quite modest in terms of the moneys that were devoted to it. But symbolically, it was out there, and ordinary people could use it to actually get a result.
I don't know how familiar you are with Canadian jurisprudence, but the court challenges program has been implicated in some of the most important decisions in Canadian jurisprudence today, without a doubt; cases that not only have influenced our own country but have been cited in judgments all over the world. I can tell you this absolutely truthfully. Australia, New Zealand, even the United States of America, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka.... These judgments that came about because the litigants were supported by court challenges programs in Canada have had a profound influence around the world.
And they would never have seen the light of day in this country but for the court challenges program. I know this because I have participated in many of them myself as a pro bono litigant, on behalf of minority women, on behalf of the disabled, on behalf of violence-against-women cases, hate propaganda, pornography, and the like.
So it is very important. It's hugely symbolic, and not only is it symbolic, it has profound practical benefits that go far beyond what you can imagine, out there in the real world.