Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to come before the Official Languages Committee and talk about the Court Challenges Program. I have already had the pleasure of meeting some of you during your visit to Regina a few months ago.
I am the Executive Director of the Association des parents fransaskois. Our office is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Our association represents close to 1,500 parents of children attending the province's 12 Franco-Saskatchewanian schools, 11 junior kindergartens and 3 day care centres.
We work in close cooperation with the Francophone School Division and the Department of Learning to ensure access to quality, French-language services at the preschool and school levels. The Association des parents fransaskois, or APF, is also a member of the Commission nationale des parents francophones.
It was only after a lengthy political and legal battle that Franco-Saskatchewanian parents were granted the right to manage their schools in 1993. We have made significant progress in the past 15 years, but we still have to settle a number of issues. Progress has to be made for section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to be fully implemented. Francophones in Saskatchewan, as well as in all other Canadian provinces and territories, have had to go to court to defend their rights, including language and school rights.
I have been living in a minority community for the past 32 years. Without wanting to disclose my age, I was 23 at the time. I am neither a jurist, lawyer nor legal expert. However, for the past 32 years, I have experienced cases where francophones in my community or francophone institutions in my province have had to use the legal system. Fortunately, most, but not all, cases were settled outside of court.
In 1985, when I was Executive Director of the Association culturelle franco-canadienne, or ACFC, I was called on to oversee Father Mercure's case before the Supreme Court of Canada, as part of a court challenge intended to recognize Saskatchewan's bilingual nature. Despite Father Mercure's passing, the Supreme Court exceptionally agreed to hear the case and ruled in his favour. That shows the great importance that the Court attaches to such constitutional matters.
I also participated in legal action before the Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan as part of the Franco-Saskatchewanian School Board drive to recognize the right to education in French as the language of instruction in minority institutions. Francophone parents won their case as a result of Justice Wimmer's decision in 1988.
During my current tenure as Executive Director of the Association des parents fransaskois, parents initiated proceedings before Saskatchewan's appellate court. The 1990 decision by the Supreme Court in the Mahé case, in Alberta, spared us from having to go to the Supreme Court, because that case largely addressed the issues that we had raised before the Court. I did say " largely," not completely.
In 2002 and 2003, when I was a school trustee, the Franco-Saskatchewanian School Board had to file three notices at the Court of Queen's Bench regarding the under-funding of Franco-Saskatchewanian schools and the need to provide francophone students in Saskatoon and Moose Jaw with adequate schools. The province later decided to settle those cases out of court.
It is the Court Challenges Program that allowed us to hire legal counsel. Do we enjoy going to court to settle our constitutional problems? We do not, not at all, but that is often the last recourse available to us. How could we do otherwise when the government is unable to realize that it is denying its minority their rights?
The recognition of language rights in 1988 by the Supreme Court of Canada and the implementation of school rights were made possible thanks to funding from the Government of Canada. That was when the original Court Challenges Program was in place. Since the program was reinstated in 1994, it has helped to defend the rights of francophones on numerous occasions. The program was useful and effective. Through the funding of legal test cases, the program truly helps modernize the equality and language rights guaranteed by the Canadian Constitution.
Now, why is this program needed? Because the Government of Canada is responsible for defending the rights of its citizens, minorities, and providing them with mechanisms to access the legal system as a last recourse.
In my view, that is a fundamental right. The Court Challenges Program is one of the means to defend the people's rights through the court system, without any political or ideological interference. The program provides funding and, consequently, access to true legal council, i.e., it helps address basic rights and issues of public interest.
The Charter dates back to 1982, a mere 25 years ago, and the case law is still being shaped. In rendering their decisions, justices and jurists assist—and do not undermine the government—businesses and individuals, without taking the place of lawmakers, and interpret the rights recognized in the Canadian Charter and Constitution. Because constitutional law is so complex and crucial, it is important that citizens and legislators be able to use the court's opinions to legislate and administer without infringing upon the rights of minorities. Experience has shown how easy it is to overlook minorities when major reforms are implemented, without considering the consequences they might have on minority rights. This often occurs in the provinces. I insist that that leads to major consequences.
It is also important to recall that the language rights contained in the Charter were granted to provide redress for past failings with regard to Canadian minority language rights, some dating back to the start of the Canadian Confederation. The Charter contains redress mechanisms to right the wrongs of the past. According to the interpretation of the Supreme Court of Canada, section 23 of the Charter includes such a redress mechanism.
In order to preserve Canadian unity and uphold the rule of law, the Canadian Parliament and government are responsible for supporting Canadians living in minority situations and compelling the government bodies that have jurisdiction over education and language rights to make the necessary corrections, take the required steps to comply with the Charter and remedy the wrongs that were caused.
Obviously, the government of Canada does not and cannot interfere in provincial and territorial areas of jurisdiction. We understand that. The Court Challenges Program can, because it is independent from political influence, facilitate dispute resolution and help shape case law that will guide decision makers, both now and in the future.
Given all these reasons, we believe that the Court Challenges Program has to be reinstated.
Thank you.