The federal Conservative government has shown "lack of leadership" and should develop a plan to ensure Canadians have access to government programs in both official languages, the official languages commissioner says.

In his first official report, released Tuesday, Graham Fraser targeted Stephen Harper's government for its decision in September 2006 to scrap the court challenges program, which provided funding to minority groups to challenge government policies in court.

The government violated the Official Languages Act by getting rid of the program, Fraser said, because minority language groups are no longer getting access to the courts to guarantee their linguistic rights.

"I'm worried that this apparent lack of will is going to undermine the application of the Official Languages Act within the federal public service," he told reporters in Ottawa.

"Our official languages, English and French, belong to all Canadians and build bridges between us. … The national conversation takes place in English and French."

Fraser said 40 cases before the courts have lost their funding because of the Conservatives' decision.

The prime minister, who begins most of his speeches in French, was praised by Fraser for setting a personal example of how to employ both official languages.

But Fraser said his office's research into how Canadians interact with government agencies "seems to indicate that we are falling behind," particularly in greeting people in their language in what is called an "active offer" — an obligation under the act.

Languages committee shuts down

Fraser's report comes on the same day a political spat forced the House of Commons official languages committee to shut down.

After opposition members teamed up to vote out Conservative chairman Guy Lauzon Tuesday, the government said he will not be replaced, and committees cannot sit without a chairman.

Government whip Jay Hill said the rules say the chair has to be a government member and he's not going to allow the opposition to dictate who that will be.

During question period Tuesday, opposition leaders slammed Harper for what they said was an attempt to muzzle MPs from questioning the government's policies on official languages. 

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion called on the prime minister to name a new chair immediately.

"The prime minister doesn't like the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms], he kills a program supporting it," Dion said. "He doesn't like official languages, he kills a program supporting it. He doesn't like being questioned by members of this House, he kills committees."

But the prime minister dismissed the charge, saying the opposition were "playing games" with the committee's proceedings and preventing it from convening.

"That's something the committee has to rectify," he said.

Harper accused Dion of failing to act on the previous Liberal government's own official languages plan in 2003 and cited the Conservatives' $30-million funding plan to protect minority languages. 

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe called on the Harper government to reverse its decision and reinstitute the program, which he said was critical for francophones to guarantee their language rights.

Act's application still 'not entirely successful'

The court challenges 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.

There are four million unilingual francophones and 20 million unilingual anglophones in Canada, according to Fraser's report.

"Nearly 40 years after the Official Languages Act came into force, its application is still not entirely successful," he said.

Fraser also said it was very important that federal ministers and appointees be able to speak and understand both official languages to better serve Canadians.

"I find it difficult to understand how one can play a national leadership role without being able to communicate with all Canadians," he said.

In April, Dion said a Liberal government would restore the court challenges program and reverse what he called a Conservative effort to weaken the Charter of Rights.

Fraser, a former journalist who was appointed as official languages commissioner in 2006, serves as an ombudsman and advocates for English and French bilingualism in the federal government and in Canadian society.

With files from the Canadian Press