Mr. Chairman, you cancelled the meeting without discussing this with the opposition parties. I have before me Marleau-Montpetit. On page 843 it states, and I quote: "Where the meeting has been convened by order of the committee, the chair consults with representatives of the various parties before sending the cancellation notice." We never received that notice.
Furthermore, this meeting was cancelled in a cavalier fashion and in a way that was very disrespectful towards the committee members and the witnesses who came here to discuss the Court Challenges Program. Mr. Chairman, you must not forget that you are the committee chairman but you are not its supreme leader. The committee is master of its own agenda and its own schedule.
Furthermore, we had agreed that we were meeting that day in order to discuss the Court Challenges Program, regardless of any other activities taking place in Canadian society, or even internationally.
We are very disappointed with your attitude. You cancelled this meeting in a cavalier fashion and in a way that was disrespectful towards committee members and towards French and English minority language communities in Canada and Quebec who asked us to go through this exercise. This had been initiated precisely in response to these communities' requests.
Mr. Chairman, I would be ashamed in your position. I am very disappointed.