Mr. Speaker, the member started off his speech talking about the issue of students and student debt. All members in the House would agree that it is an issue that must be addressed.
When I became a member of Parliament, one of the things I remember from the health committee was that the officials told us that in the health care system we were spending 75% on fixing problems and only 25% on preventing them. This model was unsustainable. I have the feeling that the way we have moved on health care and shifted to a wellness model rather than an illness model is the way we should go.
I would like to ask the member about the whole idea of introducing the RESPs and the learning bond and how these are focusing in on those children who will be the next generation. Prior to that, previous budgets had introduced loan forgiveness increases, repayment based on income, and a number of initiatives to assist students who had debt load.
The member knows that the average debt load of students is about $18,000, but only about 60% of students even qualify for loans and of those, about 85% pay them off, so we are talking about a relatively small number. Although the member referred to the fact they have debt up to their eyeballs and the bill collectors are at the door, that is not the case. If they do not get a job and they cannot afford to pay, there is no payment due until they actually get a job and they can make contributions to pay down the debt.
In view of the fact that the differential in starting salary of a post-secondary grad versus a high school grad is somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000, would he not agree that not only is it wrong for people to say they cannot afford to go to school, in fact, they cannot afford not to go to a post-secondary institution? Does he agree?