Debates of May 28, 2004 (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke about the NWT student loan agreement that was cut off on short notice. The students that sign these contracts are in real need of financial support, and they count on the money that they are promised by the government. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In what circumstances does he consider it appropriate for his department to change the amount of a student loan agreement, a signed contract, without the student’s knowledge or consent? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would expect that the only occasion we would see that sort of incident happening would be if it was found out that some information was wrong in the application or that the funding had been improperly accessed. If there was some reason to believe there was a problem with the way in which the funding was allocated, that might be the situation. It is difficult to respond to a general question of that nature, and it is unfortunate that I don’t have the specifics of this case to be able to follow up on it. Of course, it would be difficult to give a precise answer without knowing the particulars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what efforts his department takes to warn students that the amount of their loans may be reduced later on in the year, and what do they do to notify students on a timely basis that their loan amounts may be addressed? What notice do they provide if any? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Mr. Speaker, it is clear in the regulations that if the information provided by the student in their application is wrong or if there has been a mistake made, that the amounts can be changed. Typically, there would be no notice given that the amounts would be changed because unless there was something wrong they wouldn’t be changed. So my understanding of the program is if there has been a change, it must have been because someone was unaware of the full particulars, and maybe they weren’t set out properly in the application. But the role of the student financial assistance officers should be to help counsel people to make sure that they make as few mistakes on their applications as possible. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to thank the Minister as well. Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to describe here is we have a signed contract where students are supposed to receive 10 payments, but they are receiving nine. They are officially being cut off, and it has been put into writing because technically they are one day short of attendance into the June month period. So they are attending five days, whereas they need to be attending six days to receive any money. So that was the reason they are being cut off from any future payments. Would the Minister commit today to investigating and addressing this situation that I have described here, where we have students in the middle of their exams and this support is needed at this time? Would he consider reinstating a signed contract for the original loan amount? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has no flexibility in student financial assistance. The regulations must be followed explicitly. The Minister cannot bend the rules. So I would be quite happy to investigate the situation if the Member would subsequently provide me with the name, and certainly follow up. The student always has the right of appeal to the Student Financial Assistance Appeal Board, and I would encourage the student to make that appeal. Again, just from what I’ve heard, it sounds like someone made the inadvertent mistake of not recognizing part of the regulations, because the six-day rule would have to have been in the regulations, and there should have been some awareness about that on filing of the application. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the willingness, Mr. Minister, I can hear in your voice to address this matter. Mr. Speaker, I guess lastly, does the Minister consider it serious that a signed contract is broken? Does the Minister take that very seriously? Thank you very much.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I take very seriously the issue of providing student financial assistance to people who qualify for it. We need to have as many people who are enrolled in post-secondary opportunities as possible. But as I said, the only reason I am aware of for changes is if something is wrong in the application or the regulations are not being met. So in that case, it would be clearly laid out in the regulations that there could be changes if the application hasn’t been done correctly or there is some other problem. So, yes, I take student financial assistance very seriously, but I expect that all of the rules and regulations have been followed in this situation and there has probably been no breach, but an appeal to the Student Financial Assistance Board would answer that question too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.