Official Languages Committee on June 12th, 2007

[Ghislaine Foulem]

Absolutely. The fact that the Court Challenges Program had to be used for some 15 issues makes that clear. There have been some gains made, but there is still much left to do. The health care sector has been mentioned in particular. The challenges are not all behind us. The dual-language school system is not enshrined anywhere in legislation. It is something that has been in place since the 1970s, but a government could decide at some point that the dual system in public schools does not exist.

We still need to be vigilant and make sure that services are offered that affect people directly, that people have the right to obtain these services in French, since that right cannot be taken for granted anywhere. We need to remain very vigilant. People often have the false assurance that all the battles have been won, but that is not true. If it were, organizations like ours would no longer have any reason to exist.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Godin, you used up your allotted time exactly.

That ends our second round. We will now go to our third round of questioning, which will be a five-minute round.

Mr. D'Amours, you may begin.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to thank all of you for being here today, and I want to congratulate Ms. Foulem on her recent appointment.

I would like to ask Mr. Schafer a few questions. Mr. Godin mentioned that you were not invited by the NDP. I do not believe that the invitation came from the Bloc Québécois either.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Point of order, Mr. Chairman. Out of respect for our guests, I would like this kind of petty politicking to be avoided. Every witness has the right to speak.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

That is not necessarily a point of order, Ms. Boucher.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chairman, I have not yet spoken, and I would like extra time added so that I can have my five minutes.

I do not believe that it was the Bloc Québécois that invited the Canadian Constitution Foundation, and it was certainly not the Liberal Party. So that leaves the Conservative Party, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Schafer, I would like to ask you a few questions. To begin with, your notes indicate that your foundation is non-partisan. Is that right?

[Christopher Schafer]

That's correct.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Schafer, can you confirm that the founding president of the Canadian Constitution Foundation is John Weston?

[Christopher Schafer]

He was involved in the birth, the early period of our foundation.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

So he was part of the founding group. Is it also true that Mr. Weston was a Conservative candidate in 2005 in the riding of West Vancouver and that he was not elected in the January 2006 election?

[Christopher Schafer]

I don't know.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

It is a fact, but it can be checked anyway.

Mr. Schafer, can you confirm that the current Executive Director of the foundation, John Carpay, was a Reform Party candidate in 1993?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Excuse me for interrupting you, Mr. D'Amours. I have stopped the timer. I need to check something. I have been told that the vote is at 11 o'clock. The bells will start at 10:45 and the vote will be at 11 o'clock. I want to clarify that because I want to adjust the time for answers and for each member's intervention to make sure that we have time for a complete round.

Our apologies to the witnesses. This is a house- keeping matter.

Can someone confirm what time the vote will be? Is it at 11 o'clock? So the bells will start ringing in five minutes. In order for all witnesses to have a turn, I will put—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

It is a 30-minute bell. So it will be 30 minutes after 10:45, which means 11:15, and the Chamber is close by. So we have enough time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

I will ask the clerk to check so that I am sure that we have enough time. I want to be fair to all parties.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chairman, on the topic of being fair and respectful to all parties, I would like to be able to finish my five minutes. That is the least we could expect. Then you can give us all answers you want.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I will let you continue, Mr. D'Amours.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hope that my time will be adjusted accordingly, for a second time.

Coming back to my question, Mr. Schafer, can you confirm that the current Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, John Carpay, was a Reform Party candidate in 1993?

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Point of order, Mr. Chairman.

I have no idea what the answer is, but I would really like us to concentrate on the Court Challenges Program. We are way off track.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Point of order, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Yes.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I do not see how the rules have been violated. This is his allotted time. If he wants to ask a witness a question, that is his business. We can ask any questions we want.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

As to the nature of the debate, the questions must be put to the witness, and the witness can decide to answer or not to answer.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I hope, Mr. Chairman, that my time will be adjusted for a third time. If I need to say it four or five times, I will do so.

Mr. Schafer, could you confirm to us that what I said earlier, which is that John Carpay the CCF's Executive Director since 2005, was a Reform Party candidate in 1993?