Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here.
I'm glad we're going through this bill. I want to bring up one point, though, and that is the fact that banks and lending institutions are there to make money. They are always concerned, first and foremost, with a person's income or credit rating. I agree with the intent of this bill, but let's look at it in terms of discrimination.
Let's say a woman decides to run. She has been out of the workforce for some time. Her credit rating or her income level perhaps is not ideal in terms of taking out a loan. There is nothing at this point to prevent the bank—or she may go to a range of institutions—from saying that they're sorry but they don't believe she's an acceptable risk. Of course, that wouldn't appear anywhere. It would just be the fact that the person could not get a loan, and in some cases may not be able to run as a result.
It could be a 19-year-old or a 20-year-old; we have a few 21-year-old members of Parliament. They have not had a chance to build up a huge credit rating.
Is there a way we can make sure that the worthy candidate chosen in a particular riding would have the same possibility as would somebody else, or is this basically saying that it's tough luck if they can't get a loan and it's nobody's fault?