Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned about the rise of college and university tuition fees across Canada.
Tuition fees are one of the principal barriers to higher education for low income students. Even though there are other significant costs, those students and their families are particularly sensitive to changes in tuition fees.
I commend the federal government for its efforts to deal with this problem, including the millennium scholarships, the RESP grants and special measures for low income students. However I urge the government to work with the provinces to systematically reduce tuition costs.
This is a national problem. We cannot afford to lose the talent and energies of bright young Canadians simply because their families cannot afford to help them go to school.