everything is broken

In the immortal words of a liberal backbencher:

"Bill C-55 will help thousands of Canadians who must rely on a fair and effective insolvency system to deal with the situation of financial distress.[...] It is quite clear that this legislation is of interest to a very large number of Canadians. I am convinced that Bill C-55 deserves the full support of the House. I urge that the bill proceed expeditiously to the committee review stage."

He said "pronto".

And so it is written. And so it shall be referred to the commitee on Science Technology and all that stuff. Things are finally moving. Changes that concern us all to a degree are about to be implemented. For the record, in this case, it  took seven years or so for a reversal of an unfair law and an admission of guilt by the legislator. Still, I'd be curious to know how many many lives were ruined or even lost to this sorry state of affairs regarding student financing over the years. We got a few illustrations of the depth of the mess on this forum. There are many stories that may never be told though , in the end.

And if Provincial governments want to avoid a surge in student bankruptcy by clearing student debt right away with a portion of their budget surpluses (hello alberta) and looking good in the process - they are welcome to do so, of course. BC rules absolute now. Others should really follow the example it sets. Education of our citizens should really be free and accessible, as a matter of principle.

I’m in a fairly good space right now, but then I haven’t had any bad experiences with the system yet as far as repaying my student loan goes.  But I do recall the stress, worry and sleepless nights that I experienced while I was still a student, living on that “mountain of cash” that amounted to about 12K a year.  That must be below the poverty line or close to it but is still twice as much as general welfare assistance.  After the school took their tuition fees off the top, before that money ever crossed my palm, there wasn’t a great deal remaining.  Most of it went on the rent and sometimes there wasn’t enough for that and groceries, and then it became a toss up – do I eat or keep a roof over my head?  I worked student jobs to supplement the student loan.  The work study student jobs were the only jobs that I could find.  Or I would have left the school…….which became my sanctuary. 

So far, things have not been as bad as I had imagined them regarding the student loan.  I have been taking things one step at a time.  First, I signed the loan papers to “consolidate” my loans.  That’s not something that I wanted to do, but it’s done.  Then I was able to apply for Interest Relief.  I’ve been struggling with unemployment and low paying jobs for years.  My peer group are the ones who have been hanging on to their jobs for the past 20 years.  There were many jobs for the taking 20 years ago and you didn’t need to have a university degree.  I was too much of a free and restless spirit.  Refused to sell out to the money god.  No, I don’t regret that.  To each his own.  But I don’t think I need to be punished for that, and sometimes that’s what it feels like.

My fears began to ease when I came to this site and read posts like yours dujylyn.  Not because I’m thinking – oh, there’s someone who’s worse off than I am.  But because I had thought I was this ridiculous, bad person who had run up an incredibly large student loan and would be cast from society.  But now I realize that there’s lots of us!!! 

 I’m going to be getting a little edgy when I start applying for this debt reduction thing.  I guess that’s not an option for you dujylyn?  I think I would probably seek help from Johnny if the worst came to the worst.  He seems to be well-respected on this site.  I don’t think I could handle collectors intruding into my world and hope it doesn’t come to that. 

And as for you Basher13….You have serious issues.  Apparently everything that Poly and Mark had to say to you went in one ear and out the other. 

Old Hippy