The Tory government violated the Officials Languages Act when it cut the court challenges program, according to a report by the official languages commissioner obtained by CBC News.

In his first report as commissioner, Graham Fraser looked into more than 100 complaints about the cancellation of the program.

Fraser makes it clear in the report, scheduled to be released next week, that minority language groups are not getting access to the courts to guarantee their linguistic rights.

Fraser said the government clearly did not consider those rights when it made the decision to cut the court challenges program back in September.

That program was created in 1978 for minority linguistic groups to defend and guarantee the services they need in the language of their choice.

It was later expanded to other minority groups seeking equality, at a cost of about $3 million a year.

Fraser said that while government has a right to govern it also has to follow the law.

He makes a number of recommendations to the government including a full review of the decision. But the government is not legally bound to follow those recommendations.