Madam Speaker, our colleague is right to remind us that there are times in parliament when we must rise above partisanship.
One of those very important times is, of course, when we talk about human rights. Had it been a government bill, I believe we would still have supported it unconditionally.
What is social condition? The way the courts have defined social condition refers to three elements: one's position in society based on one's income; one's position in society based on one's education; and the prejudice one suffers as a result of those positions.
Based on the rulings handed down by the courts, it is clear that welfare recipients have a particular social condition. In some cases, these court rulings have condemned discrimination against the poor because welfare recipients very often, if not almost always, live below the poverty line.
It must be noted that the debate on social condition is not an academic debate. It has a very concrete meaning for those people who would be able to challenge not only a number of discriminatory practices related to the services they receive, but also discriminatory measures taken by governments as the case may be.
Again, I urge all members—and I am sure my colleague, the member for Shefford, would do the same if she were here today—to vote tomorrow in favour of this bill that would improve the Canadian Human Rights Act and that would send a clear message to all Canadians that we do not accept discrimination, no matter which forms it takes.