Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Justice on restoring and modernizing the court challenges program. This important program allows Canadians to be heard when it comes to defining their rights and freedoms.
As the member of Parliament for a riding with the highest proportion of francophones outside Quebec, I am pleased with this announcement. Fifteen years ago, on February 1, 2002, the Franco-Ontarian community almost lost the only francophone university hospital in Ontario, the Montfort Hospital. Were it not for the court challenges program, the movement could not have stopped the Conservative government from closing this institution that is so essential to the development of the francophone community.
In 2006, the Conservative government decided to cut this program. It took one Prime Minister Trudeau to establish the program and another to restore it.
The modernized court challenges program reflects our government's commitment to better protecting human rights and official languages rights.
On behalf of minority language communities, thank you.