Mr. Speaker, on September 25, the Conservative government announced that it was doing away with the court challenges program, a decision made without debate or consultation and which violates the Official Languages Act.
I travelled across Canada, from St.John's, Newfoundland, to Vancouver, with the Standing Committee on Official Languages. In every province of the country, there was not a place where the francophone minority did not ask why the federal government had abolished the court challenges program.
The question that I put to the President of the Treasury Board at the time was important for people using both official languages of our country, so that they could thrive and have access to services.
Today, in Canada, we can see that francophone minorities were able to get schools in Prince Edward Island and in Nova Scotia. People were able to get services in both languages in New Brunswick. We were able to put a challenge to increase bilingualism in the RCMP in New Brunswick, or to fight for food inspectors in Shippagan, who were going to be transferred to Moncton. There is also the riding of Acadie—Bathurst which was to be split and be linked to Miramichi. It is thanks to the court challenges program that we were able to debate the issue and go to court. Here in Ottawa, the battle to keep the Montfort Hospital was also waged through the court challenges program.
Everywhere we went, even in Toronto, in Sudbury, in British Columbia, in Saskatchewan, in Manitoba and in Regina, we found that it had given people the opportunity to test the Official Languages Act in court.
By cutting funding for the court challenges program, the government is preventing these organizations from going to court. Across Canada, people are protesting this cut.
I asked the President of the Treasury Board why the government cut the program, but he did not answer. He just said that his government would obey the law. But what if it does not? How can these people, these organizations, go to court to represent citizens?
This gives us the impression that the Conservative Party thinks this is a simple issue and that they can do things like the American government does. The party leaves it up to the people to get organized. It does not believe in community; it thinks it can leave groups to their own devices. The Conservative government also said in this House that it did not see why it should give money to groups to take the government to court.
But who is the government? It exists to represent the people. If a law must be challenged, we must ensure that people have the opportunity to challenge it.
That is why I asked the President of the Treasury Board that question, but he did not give me an answer. He merely said that his government would obey the law. But that is not happening. This is a big country. Sometimes, mistakes happen and people have to go to court with the support of the court challenges program. The government, this Conservative government, took away the tools that let them do that.
I would like an answer to my question tonight.