Mr. Speaker, I want to read a quote, “...I want all of you to stay angry to make sure that no government in the future...[allows] a Canadian's fundamental rights to be violated.” Who said that? The Prime Minister did. Canadians are incredibly angry at the government's new values test for organizations that apply to the Canada summer jobs program.
Several organizations in my riding recently submitted their applications and explained in detail why they could not sign the new required attestation. These were reasonable and fair explanations. Now these organizations are being told that their applications are incomplete and that they need to resubmit them with the attestation signed.
The Prime Minister cannot pick and choose which charter rights he wants to stand up for. Freedom of belief and opinion is guaranteed by the charter, and the Prime Minister needs to recognize this. I am calling on the government to do the right thing and give all Canadian organizations the ability and opportunity to hire a student for the summer.