Mr. Speaker, I was astounded to hear the NDP member say that the charter does not need defending. He skates by it by saying that the Prime Minister's egregious comments about the charter was really an attack on the judiciary.
Although I agree that thePrime Minister does not have any faith in the discretion and quality of our judiciary, he fundamentally attacked the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. His supporters fundamentally attacked the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Conservative government took away funding for the court challenges program so that the minority groups that my friend spoke in support of, cannot find the means to get into court.
My friend should spend some time with Michel Doucet and retired justice of the Supreme Court, Michel Bastarache. He should understand how difficult it is to get a charter challenge just on language before the Supreme Court to use the charter to challenge government decisions.
Where is the fire in the belly of my friend? Why is he saying that the charter does not need defending? I would have expected more from him. I want to hear a fiery answer as to why he thinks, given the chance, that the charter does need defending, that we do need the court challenges program back and that the comments of the Prime Minister are anti-charter.