This website is a testimony to the problems Canadian Student Loan borrowers experienced from approximately 1996 to 2008 and until their loans were paid off.
The privatization of the Student Loans system by the Chretien and Martin Liberal governments broke the system and defaulted thousands of borrowers who were trying to pay their loans. There were even stories of suicide due to the harassment of borrowers.
Read the report that I prepared back in 2007 here. Canada Student Loans-The Need for Change Fortunately the new Conservative government at the time revamped the program and fixed the system for new borrowers, but borrowers under the previous program were left with ruined credit and continued harassment from debt collectors.
I call on the Canadian Government to apologize to the borrowers affected by this fiasco and make amends.
Unfortunately the Liberal government is again clobbering the Education system with their changes to International Student Visas. Yes, there's a problem, but instead of a well thought out plan, they have pulled the emergency brake on the train causing a derailment. This has introduced unprecedented instability for both private and public education institutions who serve both international and local students.
Universities have been forced to cancel programs and layoff hundreds if not thousands of full-time and contract instructors.
Again, the Liberal government has messed up the education environment.
QuoteReplyTopic: Defeat of Bill C-236 no surprise to me .. Posted: 13/April/2005 at 8:49pm
Hello everyone ....
Regarding the recent news of Bill C 236 defeated because the Conservatives are spineless, I knew that the Conservatives led by Stephen Harper cannot be trusted from DAY ONE. These guys, the Alliance/Conservatives at the time it took place, teamed up with the Liberals to defeat a Private Members Bill some time ago presented by the NDP's.
The NDP is the only political party committed to reforming the BIA such that the Act is fair to all individuals who owe debt and cannot legitimately pay it back.
I am not joking or kidding with what I am about to say here, but I will use all the means I can that is legal and necessary to get the message across to all voters under the age of 40 to make their votes count and make them count by voting NDP. If all the student loan borrowers under the age of 40 voted NDP and got their brothers, sisters, parents, and close friends to vote NDP as well, the NDP would win a majority government in a walk. Why you ask? Because we all know that a huge majority of our population has been negatively touched by the bogus, crude, and barbaric legislation that has been put in.
Why do I emphasize eligible voters under the age of 40? It is because the stats from the June 2004 election showed that the voter turnout amongst Generation Xer's in particular was pathetic. Sad to say, the people under the age of 40 have to get out of the negative mentality of thinking that their vote is meaningless no matter who they vote for. That simply is not true.
The fact that Generation X has been acting so passive in allowing the "old school" of political party loyalty and policy for dictating who gets elected in is one of the direct reasons why Generation X is quite often known as the "Forgotten Generation." Who is going to take notice of us if we do not take a stand? We just cannot be passive and think that miracles are going to fall into our lap. We just cannot passively whine about the injustices created by the Liberals and Conservatives. We have to make it known to all of our peers, including our Baby Boomer counterparts, what is going on, wake them up, and tell them to imagine themselves in our shoes for a moment because our generation's needs are being neglected by "old school" loyalty to the Liberals and Conservatives and our generation's negative passiveness.
As a Newfoundlander, I voted for Danny Williams to become premier of Newfoundland and Labrador because I believed that he would make a strong difference and he has. He is determined to give back to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians what was taken from us. I believe that Jack Layton, Alexa McDonough, and the entire Federal NDP party have the same genuine intentions to make things right for ALL Canadians on ALL issues that affect us all.
So for the younger voters out there, use your freedom and use your POWER SUPREME of democracy to overthrow the Liberals in the next Federal Election which could be called anytime at all now that Paul Martin's Liberals are beginning to show signs of falling through the cracks caused by their own self infliction. Also, it is equally important to keep Stephen Harper and his Conservatives from gaining the majority government too. So we must all cast our vote for Jack Layton and his team. I think he and the NDP deserve a chance the same way that the majority of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians gave Danny Williams a chance to right the wrongs of years of Liberal rule in this province. The Conservatives are not an alternative at all because their stance on issues like Post Secondary Education and Health Care is just as or more extreme as that of the Liberals.
If anyone out there sees me on TV news interviews, and on the radio and in the newspapers, it is because I am trying to rally the troops now before it is too late. Another 4 years of Liberal and Conservative rule will bring more and more suffering to us all. We have the strength in numbers to overthrow the people who put us into this mess and if one person can make a difference lin rallying us all against the Liberals and Conservatives, then that person is me. I hope that what starts with me becomes a huge rallying cry getting louder and louder. We must all unite together and conquer all that is wrong and evil in our society.
Blue_Thunder
The greater access to higher education, as a result of student loans, has flooded the job market. Therefore, supply exceeds demand. Thus our credentials are not as valuable as, say, 30 years ago.
To vote NDP may not suffice. I'm thinking of working for the NDP. Hell, I'd be a candidate, if this student loan business didn't get in the way of my credibility. God knows my academia creds surpass those of the majority of the back-benchers sitting in the House at the moment. But you know how it goes in this sick business: you can swindle the poor folks and keep a dirty nose, as long as you appear financially sound, then they may buy your bull.
At this point, I figure we either get politically engaged or just quietly do our time, each in our little corner. But as long as I got some swing in my step left, I'm tempted to fight back this injustice any way I can, including through this sad parliementary route.
nago, you have a good point. They have no proof that the 10-year rule doesn't work...They assume that after ten years, we're ALL going to make six figures...Are they in for a shock...
Let's face it...the Conservatives aren't spineless, just clueless. They speak for the people who would they think would never be in our position: "traditional families" who saved every penny so their kids could go to uni to take a business degree (not that pansy ARTS degree that fills their heads with elitist nonsense) with no student loans; seniors who talk about "kids nowadays" and how they are all thugs, irresponsible and spoiled; the whinger who thinks that he shouldn't pay any taxes to support anybody (even if that somebody could be HIM someday)...you get my drift.
They don't represent the single parent who went back to school to make life better for her kids; the laid off career-changer; the mature student who didn't conform to the "traditional" life plan; the fine arts grad; the person suffering from depression or another illness that keeps him or her from holding steady employment...These people aren't the "silent majority" they think they speak for, just "special interest groups."
Funny, I thought we were ALL citizens deserving of a chance for a decent life regardless of whether or not they "conformed" to the "rules" (Gee, my mum taught me when I was a kid that conforming was a BAD thing), but apparently I broke the "rules" when I dumped my alcoholic hubby for the sake of my baby son, and went back to school to ensure he had a decent life.
However, I'm sure Harper and the rest of his cronies assume we MUST have deserved our fate...after all, hard work means SUCCESS, right? If we aren't successful, we didn't work hard. When the CIBC lost my interest relief forms, that was MY fault, because I was supposed to have a better job so I wouldn't NEED interest relief.
DAMN, life is so simple when you look at it in black and white, isn't it?
No, I'm not a fan of bankruptcy...just a fan of fair treatment for ALL, not just those who live the Conservatives' Disneyland utopia.
You think I should apologize? You may be right to expect that for my seemingly taking a cheap shot here, and especially at someone with that sort of clout as an advocate and adviser. And so I do apologize if any comment was deeemed distasteful or hurtful in any way (but not about the Halifax part, which is a bona fide inquiry). I was just feeling ill about the whole thing, and then some people appeared a little too giddy for my taste with their casual "told ya sos" and "knew its". The only people that "knew it" were the many fake Tories that suddendly showed up for work on that day. Granted we should have known, you're right. We really should have known better. And making Johnny a scapegoat was a faux pas of mine. I, unlike our country's leaders, can recognize when I'm not being fair.
Now, there is this distance towards the issue that is understandable, of course. If you've indeed achieved a certain level of "wellness", it is difficult to comprehend how someone can ever put themselves in such a situation where they can only hope to finally have access to what should be a universal right to financially fold, which is an uncool thing one shouldn't have to dream about, naturally. I understand that borderline devil may care perspective perfectly because I was once doing okay and tended to care little for those who didn't, as we get too preoccupied with our own little business. And fair enough. This is how it goes and it's understood.
But all we the poor, the shamed, the hardshipped are asking for is fair and equitable treatment under the law. And the status quo just ain't that, fair and equitable. And the worse thing is that EVERYONE agrees on that fact and yet nothing is done to correct it. But meanwhile people are struggling in real time. It seems to me we've reached new heights of absurdity with this and I thought it should be said, yes, yet again...
Now I'm prepared to sulk in disgust on my own, if it means noone has their feelings hurt out there. That's okay, I've said my piece now.
I agree with everything you wrote. I am part of the silent majority that believe in the NDP party but believe it would be a wasted vote, considering the chance that if I don't vote liberal (which I do reluctantly), then the Conservatives would get a Majority. I find the conservatives private agenda to be rather transpartent, I wish the rest of Canadians would too.
I agree with everything you wrote. I am part of the silent majority that believe in the NDP party but believe it would be a wasted vote, considering the chance that if I don't vote liberal (which I do reluctantly), then the Conservatives would get a Majority. I find the conservatives private agenda to be rather transpartent, I wish the rest of Canadians would too.
You might as well vote conservative then because the two parties are virtually indistinguishable as far as student loans are concerned. Chretien and Martin have been the most conservative governments this nation has ever stagnated under anemic growth rates and pushing for far-reaching integration with the U.S. economy. Chretien and Martin have done more to slash transfer payments to the provinces for education and health than any other in history.
A vote for either the Liberals or Conservatives is a vote for higher university tuition fees and more student loan debt for students from working poor families. There are 13 social democracies along with China, India and Cuba that provide free access to university education for its poorest citizens. Cuba has more physicians per capita than any other western nation and actually sends its surplus physicians to sh*tholing third-world capitalist countries throughout Latin America, Africa and the Phillippines.
Voting Liberal or Conservative will guarantee Canada's shortage of general practitioners, medical specialists of all kinds, teachers and skilled workers. This underfunding of our health care and education is being used as a ruse for the introduction of private enterprise into Canada's public system. And those large U.S.ian and Australian and other multinationals lobbying our weak, corrupt and ineffective Conservative and Liberal politicians are salivating at the opportunity to hack off pieces of our social democracy for profteering. Those corporations will have to borrow the money to setup these same services. For the most part, those corporations cannot borrow money at lower interests than the Canadian federal or provincial governments can. In the end, deregulation and privatisation of an economy will cost us more than if Martin and the rest of the right-wing leaders simply funded our social programs at appropriate levels. We're being lied to on a constant basis by Liberal and Conservative shills for big business.
The federal NDP will offer affordable education. University is free in the social democracies of Europe, and their national debts aren't as large as ours or the U.S.A's.
I can sense that you have the same political views and approach as I do. To me, the ideal government system is what I would call Democratic Socialism. That's why the NDP would get my vote is because they have that left wing but responsible type of public policy. Stephen Harper, who in my opinion is a right wing conservatist, fundamentalist, extremist, fascist, and religious moron, recently accused the NDP as "socialists" in a negative sense. This is with regards to the Budget amendment for more social spending. Only a right wing extremist like him and Paul Martin want to give more breaks to corporations who lobby them all the time than provide for the needs of the common people in society.
I have found in particular that people who are staunch right wing religious, and most likely right-wing Protestants, (no offense intended as I have Christian values) are the ones who support the notion that the rich should get richer and the poor should get poorer. I ran into many people like that in my lifetime and often had heated debates. It is like, because of media, religious beliefs, etc., socialism is seen as pure evil and the words Socialism and Communism make them cringe.
These people need to realize one thing - that socialism/communism is the ideal system. But unfortunately socialism/communism get such a bad rep because of the systems in countries like China and North Korea which are not only communist/socialist but are also Dictatorships. That's what makes socialism APPEAR bad. But socialism/communism can only work unless it is a democracy.
The problem with Canada and the mess we are into is the fact that Canada, especially in the last few decades, has taken on the characteristics of the American system: A system that is purely dictated by multinational and huge corporations. In fact, the governments of the States and Canada have allowed Free Enterprise not only to flourish, but create a system whereby they are partnered with the Federal and Provincial/Territorial governments to create what I call a Capitalist Dictatorship.
Under a Capitalist Dictatorship system typical of Canada and the United States, it has resulted in a half of trillion dollars of national debt and 10's of trillions of dollars in debt in the US. With debt and deficit being that bad, everything has become cut like our Health and Education Transfer Payments to the provinces and territories to meet their bottom line while compromising the ability of those from poorer families to better themselves and not be just as bad or worse off than their parents.
Western Democracies in Europe, while not totally perfect systems, are much better than the democracies of North America. Western Democracies like Luxembourg and Ireland have free tuition and, where geography is not as great an issue pertaining to moving away to get a good education, graduates find themselves with little or no debt loads. Any debt loads they have are small and extremely manageable.
Therefore, these places take on a more left wing or Socialist system which are also democracies. Also these countries, many of them as large or larger than Canada's population have much less debt and deficit per capita than the US or Canada.
A Socialist Democratic system (Left-Wing, but Accountable/Responsible government) is the only way to go to right the wrongs that have created by a greedy political system lobbied constantly by greedy corporation. As we speak, we as Canadians (and our American counterparts) live under a Capitalist Dictatorship regime who believes in a number of things. One of those things is to have created a post-secondary education system that has become a complete and utter failure. Instead of taking full responsibility and accountability of the failure and mismanagement of the Student Aid system, they went out and put in bogus laws that keep student aid borrowers who are genuinely in deep hardship from getting a fresh start. This was due mainly to the banks and collection agencies having gone out to lobby people like Paul Martin.
To conclude, the fact we have politicians like Paul Martin, who was a wealthy CEO at one time and still has huge corporate connections and ties, and Stephen Harper (and along with many Conservatives), who let their religious beliefs of a right wing iron fist nature cloud their agendas, show quite clearly we live in a Capitalist Dictatorship system with the wrong priorities in mind.
The greater access to higher education, as a result of student loans, has flooded the job market. Therefore, supply exceeds demand. Thus our credentials are not as valuable as, say, 30 years ago.
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Defeat of Bill C-236 no surprise to me ..
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). I was just feeling ill about the whole thing, and then some people appeared a little too giddy for my taste with their casual "told ya sos" and "knew its". The only people that "knew it" were the many fake Tories that suddendly showed up for work on that day. Granted we should have known, you're right. We really should have known better. And making Johnny a scapegoat was a faux pas of mine. I, unlike our country's leaders, can recognize when I'm not being fair. 
No relief..help wrote: