An Act to amend the Department of Canadian Heritage Act (Court Challenges Program)

Bill C-316 (44-1) was a Liberal Private Member's Bill to write the Court Challenges Program into the Department of Canadian Heritage Act, so it could not be quietly cancelled by a future government. The program funds court cases that test official-language and equality rights under the Charter. Created in 1978 and cut by the Harper government in 2006, it was restored in a modified form in 2017 with about $5 million a year administered through the University of Ottawa. The bill reached report stage in the House of Commons but did not become law before the 44th Parliament ended.