Thank you very much.
I first need to come clean that I am also the most recent past chair of the court challenges program. I was nominated to the court challenges program board by LEAF, served for seven years, and am now the immediate past chair. I need to tell you that before I start, because I actually have quite an intimate knowledge of the court challenges program and I'm currently on the national legal committee of LEAF.
I think it's important to make a fundamental point before I start. What is this shared vision that we have? I've just heard two people talk about differing visions of equality, differing visions of justice. We have a vision that this government has adopted. It's called the charter. That is the common vision. When I listen to my friends who have just spoken, what I hear is a disagreement about the vision and an attack on it by attacking the court challenges program.
The charter talks about rights. It doesn't talk about privileges, which can be withdrawn and granted at the will of Parliament. Our charter tells us that an essential part of our democracy is to ensure that the will of the majority will be always attentive to minority rights. This is our common vision of what justice is. In this way, the courts, through the charter, play an important role in balancing majority rule with minority rights.
Majority rule that violates fundamental minority rights is not part of our shared democratic vision, nor does LEAF believe it should be. The charter recognizes that minority rights are not always protected by the majority. In the minority community, which I come from, we have come to understand that true democracy is not simply majority rule; it means protection of the minority within a system of democratic majority rule. It's a fundamental principle that I think is worth restating.
The government, therefore, has an essential role in the proper functioning of our democracy, which means the government has to ensure that minority rights are protected. What value do those rights in our charter have if they cannot be enforced? What value is our Constitution if it has no effect? Ensuring the protection of minority rights is all about protecting and promoting our democracy, not about subverting it.
Access to the courts is essential for equality-seeking groups precisely because they are often members of disadvantaged and minority groups that are subject to the sometimes discriminatory effects of majority rule, whether intentional or unintentional.
The Supreme Court has affirmed its longstanding commitment to the ideal that it is the government's responsibility to govern, and governments are obligated to govern in accordance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Government action that violates the charter must be measured against principles and values of substantive democracy.
Unfortunately, one of the unifying and defining features of many forms of disadvantage and discrimination is poverty. It's axiomatic that the disadvantaged and marginalized groups that the charter seeks to protect do not have the financial resources to mount court challenges, nor the political power to influence the majority. This is precisely why we have the charter and why we need the court challenges program: to redress the fiscal and power imbalance that exists and to ensure minority rights are respected.
The court challenges program permits the conduct of litigation to mediate disputes about equality and discrimination in a civilized and highly controlled manner before the courts. I suggest that it's naive to think the underlying disputes will disappear if the program is eliminated. The disputes will continue. It's just that they will be resolved in a different manner by a more desperate and more marginalized group, perhaps in a manner that is less civilized and less controlled.
Eliminating the court challenges program is removing the ability of disadvantaged groups to participate in the court process to resolve their disputes. I suggest that is not a good idea.
The government needs to think realistically about the waste of taxpayers' money that arises when disputes are not channelled into civilized and highly controlled courses, such as before the courts. Either way, the taxpayer is going to spend money. We believe the process and the promotion of constructive resolution of disputes through the courts is a preferred approach.
LEAF also believes that working together to create an equitable society contributes significantly to real national security.