Thank you.
Something that I know I raised with your predecessor, Mr. Minister, concerned some cuts that were made last fall. I know there was a lot of concern in my community about those cuts, specifically the cancellation of the court challenges program.
There was great concern about the impact on human rights and the potential inability of people whose rights might be breached under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to be able to access legal assistance in order to challenge the law and have their rights protected. Of course, we have lots of examples, whether it's francophones, people with disabilities, or gays and lesbians who have had the ability to have their rights fulfilled because of the court challenges program. That was one area.
A second area was the cuts to Status of Women. I have to say there is great concern among women in my community and across the country about the cuts that have been made, the offices that have been closed in the Status of Women program, and a seeming reorientation of that. I appreciate that the details are best asked of the Minister of Heritage, but it's the cuts that really concern women.
The third area that I heard the most about was on the cuts for touring arts. I know internationally acclaimed writer Margaret Atwood wrote an opinion piece in The Globe and Mail about this and how important it is in terms of Canada's projection of its image abroad and our culture and in terms of giving opportunities to aspiring or up-and-coming artists to have our international touring program. The loss of funds to those kinds of programs is really of great concern to the arts community.
We did, of course, ask these questions to your predecessor, but I feel obliged to raise this with you as well, because of course these cuts are ongoing and the funding has not been restored.