Madam Speaker, I have a quick question for the member. He talked at great length about alleviating the pressure upon students, particularly those who find themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of having to declare bankruptcy.
We have this extraordinary situation in Canada whereby students enter a rarefied class not accessed by anybody else in the country who declares bankruptcy, that of being unable to move beyond that situation for a period of 10 years, which I find deplorable. It is not a class that anyone would want to be in.
There is a point that causes me some confusion. I was at a University of Ottawa gathering last night. Fifty or so students got together to talk about politics and it was a very interesting exchange. There is one thing they find frustrating when they hear the government talk about its commitment to students and its appreciation of the great energy, effort and contribution that students make to our society and our economy as a whole. Why has that same government witnessed over the past 10 years an average increase of $1,000 every year in the average debt that students are leaving university and college with?
On the one hand the students hear the words, the rhetoric and the ideas about supporting our students, yet on the other hand they are watching their fellow students and themselves accumulate more and more debt, thereby in effect hamstringing their ability to enter successfully into the marketplace and to take further risks and challenges such as opening new businesses.
If they have not already completely lost faith, they have started to lose faith with the words on the one hand and the reality they are facing on the other. That reality is one of increased tuition costs and what I would suggest is a dramatic rise in the amount of debt burden students are leaving post-secondary education with, a burden that is encumbering their ability to take out further loans to buy a car or purchase a house and those types of considerations.
Having gone through school and having acquired student loans, I can speak from personal experience. As for the idea of paying back those banks in the future in good faith because the loans were taken out, it is difficult to hear the suggestion that I should be taking on further debt in acquiring a house and cars, thereby stimulating the economy, or in opening my own business. I eventually was able to open my own business, but only after a lag period, which was unfortunate.
From what the hon. member said today, how can I take the message back to those students and say that we must believe beyond the rhetoric and that this government is actually interested in lowering the debt burden? Let us talk about prior to the students actually having to declare bankruptcy. How can I take back that message about lowering the debt burden that students in Canada are leaving with while under the auspices of his government in the last 10 years we have watched a dramatic rise in the debt our students are having to carry?