Welcome to our committee.
Before giving the floor to Ms. Sylvia Martin-Laforge of the Quebec Community Groups Network, I want to remind the committee that we have to vote at 11 a.m. and I would like us to set aside a little bit of time before then. The clerk informed me this morning that Minister Verner would be available to meet with us on June 19. So, I would like to have your opinion on this and verify whether we could suspend our deliberations on the Court Challenges Program in order to hear from her.
Furthermore, as you know, there is the case before the courts regarding the Court Challenges Program. According to the procedural manual Marleau-Montpetit, there is a convention that must be followed regarding cases before the courts. This is first and foremost a voluntary restraint on the part of the House to protect an accused person or any other party to a court action or judicial inquiry from suffering any prejudicial effect from public discussion of the issue. I will leave it up to your good judgment and I hope that I will not have to intervene. I simply want to remind you to use your judgment in deciding what questions to ask.
Sylvia Martin-Laforge, you have the floor.