FEWO Committee Report

Dissenting Opinion —
Conservative Party of Canada

While the Conservative Party understands the importance of ensuring that equality and language rights are guaranteed, the Conservative Party cannot support the motion introduced by the member from Laval on March 29, 2007 at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women Canada as follows:

“That, pursuant to Standing Order 108 (2), the Standing Committee on the Status of Women recommend to the government that it restore the Court Challenges Program, and that the adoption of this motion be reported to the House as soon as possible.”

While the Court Challenges Program (CCP) was created to provide financial assistance for important court cases that advance language and equality rights guaranteed under Canada’s Constitution, it has created a substantial body of case law and no longer functions for this purpose.

Further beginning in 2000, the CCP no longer published the names of groups it funded and its files were no longer available under the Access to Information Act. The Conservative Party feels this lack of transparency and accountability can be harmful to the judicial and legislative process in Canada.

Further, the governing committees of the CCP have gathered many of its members from groups that had previously received funding. This has lead to certain groups receiving repeated funding and other groups consistently being denied funding. The Conservative Party of Canada feels this practice does not exemplify the very fundamental equalities the CCP is meant to uphold.

Joy Smith
Kildonan–St Paul