Members of the opposition banded together on Tuesday to vote out the Conservative chairman of the House of Commons official languages committee, causing it to shut down.
The government responded by saying the ousted chairman, Guy Lauzon, would not be replaced.
The origin of the controversy appeared to be in committee infighting that led to a cancelled meeting. However, without a chairman, the committee cannot officially resume.
"We need another MP to chair this committee," Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Tuesday in Parliament's question period.
"The Conservative members of this committee believe the member for Stormont-Dundas is doing a good job," responded Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"Unfortunately, the Liberals and the opposition have decided to play games, and the committee can't meet because they don't have a chair."
Government whip Jay Hill told reporters that the rules say the chair has to be a government member. He's not going to let the opposition to pick that person.
Dion tried to link the spat to larger issues.
"The prime minister doesn't like the Charter (of Rights), he kills the program supporting it," he said, referring to the cancelled Court Challenges program.
"He doesn't like official languages, he kills the program supporting it; he doesn't like to be questioned by members of this House, he kills committees."
The languages committee was in the news recently when it held hearings into Shane Doan's captaincy of Team Canada. He had been accused of uttering a slur against French Canadians in a 2005 NHL game. The league had already cleared him.
Fraser's report
The political spat comes on the same day the new official languages commissioner, Graham Fraser, released his first report that praised Harper but chastised his government.
Fraser, a former parliamentary reporter for both the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, criticized the government, saying its actions have violated the Official Languages Act.
The commissioner said cuts by the Conservative government to a number of programs including the Court Challenges Program have undermined progress in linguistic duality.
The Court Challenges Program was created in 1978 by the Liberal government of the day and provided federal funds to help minorities to challenge decisions made in court.
After cancelling the program, Conservative government ministers derided it as a slush fund for Liberal-connected lawyers.
Fraser deemed that without access to the courts, minorities are not being guaranteed their linguistic rights in Canada.
"We saw very little evidence that any consideration was taken in terms of the impact these decisions would have on minority communities. As a result we concluded that the government was in breach of its obligations under the Act," Fraser said during a press conference in Ottawa.
He told reporters that 40 cases that came before the courts lost their funding due to the cuts by the current government.
During question period, some Conservative ministers noted the government has directed $30 million to support minority-language communities. However, it wasn't clear if that money helped support court challenges.
The commissioner said it is imperative that federal ministers and appointees be able to speak and understand both French and English.
Fraser said the report indicated the government was particularly "falling behind" in greeting members of the public in both languages when they came into government offices.
Fraser, who was appointed to the position by Harper, said his office has actually identified some 70 areas where constitutional issues still need to be clarified.
"I think to close the door on the clarification of those issues and to cut off the funding represents a significant blow," Fraser said.
However, Fraser praised Harper for his continuing support of both languages.
The prime minister often begins his public addresses in French.
New Democrat MP Yvon Godin called on Harper to ensure minority language rights are protected.
"People of linguistic minorities all across Canada have been fighting for their rights for decades," said Godin.
"It is out of the question that we would let our rights slip away after having worked so hard."
Fraser's report states there are four million unilingual francophones and 20 million unilingual anglophones in Canada.
With files from The Canadian Press
