I'll go through them quickly and if people have questions, I can expand on them.
First, I'm delighted to hear that the government is committed to reinstating the program. I think it's very important to fund intervenors, not only litigants. That's one recommendation.
I think it's very important to fund consultations and strategic planning, and not just actual litigation. That's my second recommendation.
My third recommendation is that I don't think it should be restricted to equality rights. There are a number of reasons for that, which I can speak to later during the question period if people are interested, but I think it should be expanded beyond equality and minority language rights. I also think this committee should consider recommending that the program fund cases that are not in the federal jurisdiction if they have national implications. There are many such cases that I think would be deserving of funding.
I have two more quick recommendations. It's important when there's a precedent-setting case going forward and multiple intervenors are seeking funding for the same case that there be some process for a fair determination of how funding will be allocated so that it doesn't create divisiveness among allies. That was a problem under the previous program. There were times when numerous parties were trying to intervene in the same case. Some got funding and some didn't. It wasn't really clear. It was sort of those first past the post who got the money, which was a bit arbitrary in my view.
Finally, in terms of whoever makes the decision about which cases will be funded and which will not, I think it's very important for it to be a committee that is diverse and representative of the interests of a variety of communities across Canada, including the indigenous communities, LGBT communities, people with disabilities, and so on.