National News

The Cadre «+ 13 October 1998

Martin gets failing grades, flying colours from students

BY ALEX BUSTOS

OTTAWA (CUP)--Canada’s two largest student groups have given radically different as- sessments of the federal gov- ernment’s commitmentto post- secondary education.

The Canadian Federa- tion of Students gave Finance Minister Paul Martina straight- F report card for the Liberals’ record on education.

“Weare calling for [Paul Martin] to reinvest and restore funding for social transfer pay- ments to 1993 levels,” federa- tion president Elizabeth Carlyle told a news conference Tues- day.

“Weare calling fora tui- tion fee freeze. We are calling for the transformation of the Millennium Scholarship foun- dation into a system of grants,” she added.

The CFS, which repre- sents 400,000 students in 60 colleges and universities, says funding -- designed to give about 1 00,000 students $3,000

ayear starting in the year 2000 -- should be administered only according to need.

Government officials have said the $2.5-billion fund will be administered based on academic merit as well as fi- nancial need.

Carlyle also criticized recent legislation prohibiting students who declare bankruptcy from discharging their student loans for 10 years after leaving school.

But Hoops Harrison,

resident of the Canadian Al-

iance of Student Associations, says the federation’s report card is seriously flawed.

When asked to grade Martin, Harrison said he de- served an A-minus.

“In the realm of reality, there is no way Paul Martin can be given an F forhisrole in post-secondary education,” said Harrison. “Last year, $3 billion were given to students. Not to governments, not to

institutions, but to students.”

Most of that $3 billion can be accounted for through the $2.5-billion Millennium Scholarship Fund.

The rest was given through a series of federal ini- tiatives, Harrison said.

For example, under new federal regulations students have more time to apply for the interest on their loans to be forgiven. A student who has difficulty paying back a loan can now avoid paying interest for five years, instead of the previous 30-month period, he said.

And interest on student loans is now tax-deductible, he

said.

Harrison, whose i- zation represents 275,000 stu- dents in 18 colleges and uni- Versities, also pointed out Mar- tin hashanded out $100 million in grants to students with dependents.