Campbell Government Quietly Slashes Student Aid
QUESNEL— The Campbell government quietly slashed several student aid programs in the aftermath of the election, the New Democrats said today.
“This is one more example of how Gordon Campbell misled voters during the election.
Bob Simpson He campaigned on stability, not on massive cuts,” said Bob Simpson , MLA for CaribooNorth. “I’d like to see Liberal MLAs like Donna Barnett and Pat Bell explain to students in the region why they continue to hide these cuts when we have just a month left before the new school year begins.”
The programs that will be cut include the Permanent Disability Benefits Program, the Debt Reduction in Repayment program, the B.C. Loan Reduction for Residential Care Aide and Home Support Worker Program, Nurses Education Bursary, Health Care Bursary, Early Childhood Educator Loan Assistance Program, and the Premier's Excellence Award program.
Simpson learned about the program cuts from a constituent who was dismayed to find that the program she had spent time, money and effort applying for had been slashed.
“The Campbell government is hurting people by hiding these cuts,” said Simpson. 
Michelle Mungall“Students have no time to seek other sources of aid in advance of the oncoming school year.”
Michelle Mungall , the New Democrat deputy critic for post-secondary education, is worried about the impact of cutting programs designed to help former students manage their debt loads at a time when many people are losing their jobs.
“It’s cold-hearted to axe programs that are aimed at former students who have become permanently disabled and other people who are absolutely unable to make their student debt payments in the middle of a recession,” said Mungall. “Cutting these programs won’t save money in the long term.”
Mungall is also concerned about the government’s decision to cut programs aimed at attracting students to fields where there are significant skills shortages.
“The government used the cloak of good economic times as an excuse to let the costs of post-secondary education soar,” said Mungall. “Now they are cutting programs aimed at retraining the workforce to alleviate the skill shortages looming in our future. It is clear that they have no plan for bettering B.C.’s economy in the long term.”
