Mr. Speaker, I would like to comment on the proposed amendment to the budget concerning post-secondary education.
It is my belief that we should undertake more direct financial assistance for students across the country. It is important that the moneys flow directly to students in order to facilitate access to both undergraduate and subsequent post-graduate programs.
While I acknowledge that post-secondary education is a provincial responsibility, two federal programs now exist that provide platforms to help students through grants and bursaries.
By investing the additional funding to be made available in the amended budget in an improved and more seamless Millennium Scholarship Foundation and the Canada study grants, we would assist both students and their families directly with the financial commitment to post-secondary education.
This measure would help ensure that Canadians are not graduating with the extreme debt loads that prevent further studies, put their families in debt and it would provide moneys when it is most needed.