Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the question from my colleague from Hochelaga—Maisonneuve. There is indeed a direct connection between the presence of banks and economic development.
We should perhaps hearken back to what happened in the early 20th century. Mr. Desjardins, a former clerk of the House, came to the realization that small investors had no way of maximizing their savings, and this led to the creation of the Dejardins movement.
Its creation was prompted by the inability of the banking system of the day to meet the needs of small investors, people with only a small amount of capital. Now, in the early days of another century, the solution to the problem lies perhaps in the proposal we have made relating to community reinvestment.
If we have not managed to convince the Liberal majority to include this in the bill, the banking system might perhaps develop a code for itself, to show the public that they can achieve the same result on their own. I have some doubts that this would be something it will impose on itself. I think the hon. member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve needs to continue his action, to continue to call for legislation to be put in place. Nevertheless, I call upon those in charge of the banking system to do it for themselves.
As for the second question, on making social condition one of the grounds for discrimination prohibited the Canadian Human Rights Commission, this strikes me as a good approach to ensure a solid foundation which any subsequent legislation will have to take into account.
As we saw with the human rights charter and with basic documents of that type, this can have an impact. Sometimes it suits our needs and sometimes it does not. If the suggestion of the hon. member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve was implemented, we as a society would ultimately benefit. Social condition is an important issue that deserves to be taken into consideration to ensure that it is not an accepted grounds of discrimination, but rather something that drives us to amend the legislation and provide equal opportunities to everyone in our society.