Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Lord, thank you for coming here to testify. I used to be a regular member of this committee, but today I am just here as a tourist. I am happy to hear that you maintain close ties with the city in which you were born. I need to promote that for your future. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome you to your new home in Moncton. I hope you will remain there a long time, as a citizen, lawyer and businessman.
On a more serious note, when we were both politicians in New Brunswick, you represented us as a diplomat, as leader of the party for the province, during Francophonie week in 1999. I was there too. You were the champion of language rights for our province, something that I deeply appreciated. I have no reservations about the position you have taken with respect to official languages in New Brunswick over the past nine years. I congratulate you on it.
However, I am somewhat concerned to see that your report says nothing about the elimination of the Court Challenges Program. In March, Luc Desjardins wrote in Acadie Nouvelle:
The report says nothing about the principal demand made by minority language communities—the Court Challenges Program, which has been abolished. Bernard Lord heard the complaints about that at all meetings in every part of the country, and promised to make recommendations on the issue.
I know that journalists do occasionally make mistakes, but I would like to know if you really did hear complaints about the CCP's elimination at all meetings, and if you did indeed promise to make recommendations on this issue.