Mr. Speaker, we in the NDP stand in solidarity with the tens of thousands of students across the country and the Canadian Federation of Students in a national day of action to defend public, accessible and quality post-secondary education.
Students are being hammered with high debtloads and rising tuition caused by the erosion of federal funding to our universities and colleges.
Even so, over 90% of students pay back their student loans. Compare that to the corporate deadbeats who suck out billions of dollars in public funds from Industry Canada and have less than a 2% payback rate. There is an example of good corporate citizenship.
How many times have we heard the mantra that education is the future? Yet the government has gutted funding for education.
We have a message for the federal government today from students. It should quit shovelling out billions to its corporate buddies and start making education accessible to all students so they will have a future.