No way to mark Charter's Anniversary
Governments Shouldn't Emote over the Charter if They're not Prepared to Make it Accessible to Ordinary People

Conservative MLAs obviously had their reasons for voting unanimously this week against asking Ottawa to restore the Court Challenges program, but the timing merits comment. It's this week that Canadians celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and yet our provincial legislature failed to lend its support to a program aimed at helping ordinary Canadians defend their constitutional rights. How ironic.
To be fair, the debate over the Court Challenges program isn't a new one. When the federal government cancelled it last fall, many groups objected. In their view, the program provided key funding to those who can't afford to challenge the government in court on matters of constitutional rights.

But the matter came up again this week when, perhaps in marking the anniversary of the charter, the P.E.I. Liberal Opposition introduced a motion in the house asking Ottawa to reinstate the program. All Conservative MLAs voted against it. Why? According to Attorney General Mildred Dover, the program is fraught with problems that prevent it from working properly.

Whether that's the case is debatable. But even if the program is flawed, isn't it worth fixing? The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is intended to protect the rights of ordinary citizens, including those who may not have the financial means to launch a legal battle to defend those rights. The Court Challenges program has been a vital tool for that purpose. When the program was cancelled last fall, Island Senator Percy Downe reminded us of its history. In a statement to the media, he said it was created to help ordinary citizens oppose laws infringing on gender and language rights. It's played a key role, for instance, in ensuring the existence of francophone schools in P.E.I., Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, too, asserted it was under the Court Challenges program that it successfully argued for equal rights for same-sex partners with regards to employer-sponsored pension plans and pension benefits.

Governments shouldn't waste their time emoting over the value of the charter if they're not prepared to back the measures that give people access to it. Actions are louder than words. The federal government shouldn't have cancelled the Court Challenges program in the first place, and the provincial legislature should insist that it be restored.