C-316 – the Court Challenges Program Act – protects the Court Challenges Program by making it a piece of legislation.
Court Challenges Program
A bit of explanation is needed here. The Court Challenges Program provides funding to help people bring cases “of national significance” before the courts when dealing with human and language rights. You can apply for funding through the program and if they think your case would have an impact on the constitutional rights of Canadians they’ll help you get your case to the courts.
The reason for C-316 is that the Court Challenges Program is a government program and can easily be cancelled if it’s inconvenient to the government. It’s been shut down and brought back several times over the years. C-316 adds the Court Challenges Program to the Department of Canadian Heritage Act, so any future governments that want to get rid of it would need to go through the House to do so.
Progress
C-316 is currently going through its Second Reading.