Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to present a petition from college and university students who belong to the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. This particular batch contains tens of thousands among many other tens of thousands of signatures from all across the country. They represent Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.
These students point out that there has been huge increases in tuition and student debt. They point out that a third of the students who drop out of school drop out for financial reasons.
They call upon Parliament to enact legislation to create a new system of grants aimed at reducing financial barriers for individuals from low income homes, to expand the existing Canada student loan grant in order to lower the debt burden of full time students with financial need, and to negotiate with the provinces a dedicated transfer payment for post-secondary education.
I strongly support this petition.