First of all, Mr. Blaney, I want to congratulate you on your election as chair this morning. I hope that in doing so we have turned a page. I also hope that we will truly dedicate ourselves to the well-being of Canadian francophone and anglophone communities. That is the mandate of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. It is a very important mandate and I do hope we will respect it. I want to wish you all the best. I already know you and I think that things will go well.
I also agree that we have to continue examining the issue of the Court Challenges Program, to carry out our mandate. I think that the people who were supposed to appear should be the first ones invited back, so that they have the opportunity to testify. In fact, the committee has now regained its legitimacy. We can also submit a list of witnesses. Some witnesses are very important and have to be heard. This is a discussion we should perhaps have.
We could also consider inviting the Commissioner of Official Languages to explain his report and answer our questions. I think we could hear from him while dealing with the Court Challenges Program. Those are some issues that are of great concern to us.
I would also like to examine the issue of Radio-Canada. This has become a real problem. The Société Nationale de l’Acadie, or SNA, is currently attacking Radio-Canada. For example, the Atlantic region is not getting its fair share. Since Radio-Canada dropped its RDI en direct/Atlantique program, we honestly have lost our place. Radio-Canada officials said they wanted to be more active on the ground, that there would be more live broadcasts, among other things. Very often, when people from RDI call us, it is just to record a broadcast.
I have often joked that when a cat is run over on St. Catherine Street in Montreal, news from the Atlantic is preempted to broadcast the story of the cat. You understand what I'm saying? In the past, you could file a complaint, but now, that is not even possible. We no longer know where the cutbacks are made. In fact, they broadcast our programs when they so wish. The papers this morning talk about a convention that will be held here on the weekend. It is mentioned that the SNA is waging war on against Radio-Canada, RDI and the like. Radio-Canada's behaviour, as a national public television broadcaster, is unacceptable.
I would simply like for that issue to be placed on agenda so that we can deal with it eventually. This is not the first time that issue has come up, but it is something we have to address.
Thank you.