Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Yes, I move the amendment.
Members of the committee will recall that back on November 24, the House of Commons voted unanimously to call on the government to extend the moratorium on paying student loans. We currently have a moratorium on interest, but not on the actual payment of student loans.
This amendment, with NDP-2 and NDP-3, would amend the legislation so that the loan repayment moratorium is extended. This is what the House called for—all of us did—on November 24.
We know that students are going through a profound financial crisis in terms of continuing to try to maintain their studies, but also that trying to get work to pay for those studies is often difficult. The supports are not in place. That's why, on November 24, all members of the House of Commons voted to extend this moratorium.
It's the missing aspect of Bill C-14. It's something that simply needs to be corrected, I believe. When you look at the House motion and when you look at the situation students are finding themselves in, this is simply a way of correcting that oversight. The interest payment moratorium, of course, is welcome, but when students are having to pay back their loans at a time of great financial crisis in the midst of a pandemic, with the third wave coming, it makes sense for us to improve this legislation, so that's what I'm proposing.