Finance committee  I'll turn it over to Ian.

Finance committee  To be absolutely clear, students are facing a level of student debt that has never been faced in this country before. It's not just whether a student should take on student debt; it's that it's at levels far exceeding what they ever have been. I don't think anybody disagrees that we need to ensure that low- and middle-income families have access to post-secondary education for our economy and our social fabric.

Finance committee  Speaking for students in British Columbia, I think it's certainly true. I'm glad for the opportunity to answer this question, because what we've actually seen in B.C. lately with recently announced provincial budget updates is that by 2011, revenue from corporate income taxes will actually be outpaced by revenue from tuition fees in provincial coffers.

Finance committee  Essentially, corporate income tax cuts are being subsidized by tuition fees and user fees for education. In fact, in B.C., corporate income tax revenue is going to be outpaced by tuition fee revenue.

Finance committee  Yes. I think that puts it very succinctly, and to see this exacerbated by similar federal policies is not necessarily the best public policy. In fact, investments in education, like investments in early childhood education, investments in post-secondary education, have a significant return on investment.

Finance committee  A few studies have been done over the years on this. One was done by an economist at UBC in the British Columbia context. Obviously it was a few years ago, so particular policies at the time were being analysed. It found that there was at least a 4:1 return on investment in post-secondary education.

Finance committee  Thank you for the easy question, I guess, because I would say absolutely; I can't speak for every other province, but certainly in British Columbia student debt is at an all-time high. You mentioned that youth unemployment is at an all-time high. We've seen tremendous difficulty, particularly for students from low- and middle-income backgrounds, to access education.

Finance committee  Yes, certainly. Part of the difficulty in the economy and the recession is the high level of consumer debt and the lack of spending. We're now graduating 22-year-olds who have, on average, upwards of $30,000 in student debt and all the interest payments that go along with that.

Finance committee  Thank you. As you introduced me, my name is Shamus Reid. I'm the chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, British Columbia. Joining me today is Ian Boyko, who is our research and communications officer. The Canadian Federation of Students, British Columbia, represents over 150,000 university and college students across British Columbia, and on behalf of our members I would like to thank the committee for the chance to provide input today.