When the program was cut in 2006 and equality-seeking communities were looking at the possibility of a charter challenge, the strength of their legal arguments was a bit more challenging to establish than in the case of the language rights community.
I think one thing that would be very helpful, something that equality-seeking groups have been saying since the beginning and something that the treaty bodies consistently say, is that the court challenges program is a way to put in force section 15, and it is a way for Canada to comply with its international obligations under CEDAW, under CERD, under various international treaties. If that was said in the preamble, it would be very helpful in future litigation. In that way, when the government makes an announcement of the future program and the announcement clearly says that this is, in the government's view, a program that is in keeping with section 15 and that there is an obligation to fund it, just building that record would be helpful.
Equality-seeking groups have been saying that. They've been appearing before treaty bodies, but to have the government make that statement would really bolster a case if ever the program should be cut in the future.