Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Baird, I'd like to ask you about the court challenges program. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a law that Canadians support and are very proud of; it protects equality in Canada. Without the court challenges program, many people, in fact the very people whose rights may be at risk, won't have the means or the resources to be able to challenge unjust laws and discrimination. So to cut completely the court challenges program erodes the power of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect the rights of those very groups it seeks to protect.
Certainly many concerned people have contacted me on this. They're very concerned that this is a major step backwards for equality rights in Canada. There are lots of examples of groups that have used the court challenges program, including those who are seeking redress for the Chinese head tax and those who are concerned about the lack of linguistic freedom for francophone rights. There are many other examples.
There's a real concern about the elimination of the court challenges program as an erosion of our democracy and human rights in the country, in that the very people who this is designed to protect will no longer have access to the mechanisms and resources to help them get their rights enforced.
Can you tell us what the thinking is behind the elimination of this important and successful program?