Madam Speaker, I, too, am standing to present a petition in the House of Commons today. The petitioners are concerned about the values test that the Liberals have promised to impose on charitable status organizations across the country. The government has previously used a values test to discriminate against worthy applicants in the Canada summer jobs program, to deny funding to any organization that was not willing to check a box endorsing the political positions of the governing party.
As such, the petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada and the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis and to affirm Canadians' freedom of expression.