Mr. Speaker, the program did not lose any of its legitimacy, quite the contrary. In my speech, I indicated that the program had two major thrusts: language, representing about one third of the program's funding envelope, and equality, including equality between men and women and equality before the law.
It is conceivable and it makes perfect sense that most cases fought with help from the court challenges program, as they used to be, fall in the equality category. Minority francophones and anglophones in Quebec have absolutely no objection to that other thrust of the program. On the contrary, they support it. In fact, minority language communities say they would not want to see a program that would be based strictly on language issues.
Even in minority language communities, people assert their equality rights. What the member is suggesting is nonsense. I am convinced that was not the reasoning behind the cancellation of the court challenges program. The decision is more likely to have been prompted by the homophobia of certain members of that caucus, that government.