Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
As I mentioned earlier, grouping all three amendments will also have an impact on clause 267, so what I will be doing is proposing all three amendments. To enact the amendments if they passed, of course we would be voting down clause 267.
The three amendments propose that the interest waiver be made permanent, and as you know, Mr. Chair, we're all aware across the country of how hard hit students have been through this pandemic. Student debt has been increasing. Students are very hard-pressed to keep up, and they are paying interest on the loans that they have undertaken, so, given the student debt crisis and the size and scope of the struggle students have had during the course of the pandemic, what these three amendments do is propose that the interest waiver be permanent for both, starting on April 1, 2021—a couple of months ago—in all three of the pieces of legislation.
Amendment NDP-11 proposes that the interest waiver be made permanent for the Canada Student Loans Act. Amendment NDP-12 proposes that, for the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, the waiver be permanent beginning on April 1. Then amendment NDP-13 proposes that, for the Apprentice Loans Act, the interest waiver be made permanent.
Given the size and scope of the student debt crisis, this is a thoughtful and smart way of starting to address what is chronic student debt, doing that and stopping the process of the federal government basically benefiting through interest payments and interest charges from students having to indebt themselves to get the higher education that we all want them to have.
That is why I am moving these three amendments as a package, and if the committee supports that, we would also have to vote down clause 267.