Denise Savoie

DENISE CALLS FOR OPEN, TRANSPARENT STUDENT LOAN REVIEW

Thousands of student loan borrowers who have experienced complications and inflexibility with Canada’s student aid system deserve to be heard in the federal government’s upcoming review, says NDP Postsecondary Education Advocate Denise Savoie (Victoria).

“I firmly believe that this opportunity to review and improve the Canada Student Loan Program must be as open and thorough as possible,” said Savoie. “I have heard countless horror stories about a wide range of flaws, which are too many and too serious to be left to a simple administrative review behind closed doors.”

In an open letter to Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg to be delivered Monday, July 9th, Savoie refers to last summer’s federal consultation on postsecondary education as a disingenuous process that must not be repeated.

“I strongly urge you to hold public consultations, ensuring that the problems encountered by new graduates are heard, that new ideas are aired and all flaws are fixed,” said Savoie in the letter. “There must be widely-publicized notice, maximum accessibility, and a sufficient timeframe for all interested individuals and groups to submit their experiences and proposals.”

Savoie also urged the Minister to include in the review an examination of way to provide a better balance of non-repayable student grants in order to combat soaring student debt levels, and to take immediate steps to remedy easily fixed flaws in the system for those students currently struggling in the system. She asked the Minister to consider appointing an independent student loan ombudsperson as a first step.

“This is a welcome initiative but it is long overdue and must be done properly if we are to genuinely ensure that the student assistance achieves its policy objective,” said Savoie. “That is, to enable all Canadians from all geographic and income backgrounds to access and complete a postsecondary education with at most manageable debt to re-pay.”

See Denise’s letter to the Minister attached in .pdf form below.