Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for giving me the opportunity to clear up a misunderstanding regarding the Contraventions Act fund.
The contraventions regime is an alternative to the summary conviction procedure set out in the Criminal Code for prosecuting certain minor federal offences. The provinces and territories, which already had ticketing systems, came to an agreement with the federal government to implement and enforce the contravention regime on the federal government's behalf. Since the provinces and territories are acting on behalf of the federal government, they must ensure that the language rights of offenders are respected when issuing and managing federal contravention tickets.
The Contraventions Act fund provides the provinces and territories with the funding required to meet these legal obligations. In other words, the sole purpose of Contraventions Act fund is to enable the Department of Justice to meet its legal obligations when minor offences are prosecuted outside the procedure set out in the Criminal Code.
The provinces and territories can receive this financial assistance only once they have signed a general agreement for the enforcement of the Contraventions Act. There is a surplus in the fund because some provinces are not prepared to implement the regime or to sign an agreement. However, our government, through the Department of Justice, has worked and will continue to work diligently with the provinces and territories to ensure that the contraventions regime is implemented across the country.
These efforts are not in vain. Newfoundland and Labrador recently signed an agreement to implement the regime starting at the beginning of 2018. Members must understand that, unlike other funding programs for official languages, the Contraventions Act fund was not created in order to promote the vitality of official language communities. It was created so that the Department of Justice could fulfill its legal obligations to offenders.
The Contraventions Act fund was never designed to help federal institutions fulfill their duties under subsections 41(1) and 41(2) of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, entitled “Advancement of English and French”. At no time did the Department of Justice promise to use this fund to promote access to justice in both official languages, which it would not have been permitted to do. That being said, through the access to justice in both official languages support fund, the Department of Justice is fully committed to enhancing the vitality of both official languages and the communities that embody them, enabling them to contribute fully to Canadian society.
Through this plan, the government remains committed to official languages. The plan proposes an additional sum of $499.2 million, above our government's current investments totalling $2.2 billion. Our government is taking its responsibilities with regard to access—