Madam Speaker, further to what was said by the Liberal member on Bill C-28, I welcome this opportunity to make a few comments, which will be followed by a question for the hon. member who just made his speech on Bill C-28.
This morning, I listened to the Minister of Human Resources Development discussing Bill C-28, the new legislation to help students. Well, it is about time. It is about time the government improved the system to help students who are studying away from home and students who are doing postgraduate work. But unfortunately, in the last budget brought down by the Minister of Finance, with its projected deficit of $39.7 billion, and I say projected, because unless there is some degree of economic growth and job recovery in the near future, I think the deficit will be well over $39.7 billion.
My point is this. I would like to remind the hon. member that in his last budget, the Minister of Finance announced a $7.5 billion cut in social programs, spread over the next three years, and this will have an impact on social programs. For instance, the government is talking about programs to keep students from dropping out of school and to help them go on to university, which means some students will have to leave home, because not all municipalities have a CEGEP or university.
Obviously the minister's bill will get students even deeper in debt. They will have easier access to loans and bursaries, and while they are still taking their courses they will only have to pay back the interest. Today, if you want to get a bachelor's degree, it takes at least three years of CEGEP, often away from home, and four or five years of university. It all adds up every year, and not all expenses are eligible for the program. I am thinking of accommodation, transportation costs, food and
clothing, all of which are not necessarily eligible for the program. Here again, the parents must foot the bill.
In a previous speech on taxation, I asked the government to introduce some income tax measures to help parents who indirectly subsidize their children and pay for the education of those who go to school away from home. A person who lives in Charlevoix, Baie-Comeau, Baie Saint-Paul, or la Malbaie and sends his children to Quebec City or Montreal, or even farther away, spends a minimum of $8,000 to $10,000 annually on transportation, accommodation, food and clothing. I would suggest that the government make it possible for the main earner in a family where a child is sent to school away from home to deduct part of the cost involved from his income tax.