Conservatives swing and miss with student loan reforms

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed them or not, but a series of ads for the Canada Student Loan Program has been running on Canadian television stations. You can also see the ads on the Internet, on buses and in transit stations have been running from February.

It has been uncovered that these ads have come at a significant cost. Access to Information documents obtained by the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness revealed that the advertising campaign had a total price tag of almost two million dollars. Of the two million dollars, $1.4 million was used for public relations and the rest went towards production and testing.

Human Resources and Social Development Minister Monte Solberg defended the ads. The government argues that people over-estimate the cost of education and doubt their ability to acquire the necessary funding to pay for their education.

Solberg was quoted as saying, “So we are unapologetically advertising very heavily to make people aware that there is assistance available to them, and when people do take out student loans, it's a very good investment in their future.”

How useful the ads were is questionable; they actually said very little about the program. Julian Benedict called the ads “a feel-good campaign” and I would have to agree.

If the ads are not saying how wonderful the program is, they talk about the recent investments made by the federal government that are meant to streamline and modernize the program.

While the new web portal is a small step forward, there are still many issues that the government needs to address. While there are many issues that haunt the program, some of the more pressing ones are the levels of interest charged on student loans (7.75 per cent), the absence of an independent ombudsperson and collection strategies that the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness called “ruthless”.

A recent report found that 40 per cent of university grads, 52 per cent of college students and 63 per cent of students attending private colleges either fell behind or defaulted on their loans. Another interesting fact was that 75 per cent of defaulted student loans occurred in the first three years. All of the facts point to the problem of huge loans accruing vast huge amount of interest making it far more likely that someone will default or fall behind on payments.

When someone goes into collection, they get to deal with the National Collection Centre (NCC). The Coalition for Student Loan Fairness managed to obtain documents from the NCC. The training and organizational culture of the NCC creates collections agents that are vicious and whose behavior borders on despicable.

The average salary in the NCC is around $50,000 (plus benefits) and collection’s agents are also eligible to receive a commission for their work. Training documents pointed out that collections agents are told that most people they contact will be “single parents on social assistance” or people with “medical or financial hardship.”

Nevertheless agents who obey orders and chase commissions are told to advise debtors that “settlement offers are rarely accepted” and that “the debtor must never be told that the payment of accrued interest will result in automatic approval [for loan rehabilitation], or that this is a factor in the decision.”

The facts conflict with the image put forward by the government’s two million dollar public relations campaign. Students are left with huge debt, lots of interest and vicious collections agents. When they are wronged or have problems, they have no independent ombudsperson to whom they can turn.

Solberg responded to criticism. "We've made huge changes," he said. "In fact, they're the most fundamental reforms to student financial assistance in a generation... so we are stepping up to the plate."

You can step up to the plate Mr. Solberg, however, stepping up to the plate does not mean much if you swing and miss.

CBU students try to start up a Habitat group in the CBRM

Once again, members of the Cape Breton University community have stepped out of the institution's halls and classrooms and into the streets of Cape Breton. CBU students and faculty have begun the necessary work that they hope will result in more affordable housing in Cape Breton and safer homes for those who would not normally be able to afford them.

To help achieve this goal, members of the CBU community have begun the push to form a local branch of Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is an organization that taps into volunteer labour, donations and a revolving fund derived from operations that provides affordable and safe housing to low-income residences and helps break the poverty cycle in which many people are living. Habitat has been tremendously successful in other areas, but for it to be a success in Cape Breton, local residences have to step up and show their commitment.

Some of us may have a hard time believing that there are those who cannot afford a home in the local housing market; however, according to the Halifax Coalition against Poverty, a single person on social assistance in Nova Scotia earns $5,422 per year ($12,473 below the poverty line). According to the provincial government, the average income in Cape Breton is below the provincial average and the number of homes in need of repair is above the provincial and national averages.

These figures mean that even though the housing marketing in Cape Breton is relatively affordable, there are many who are at risk because of poor living conditions.

"We are concerned that so many of our neighbours are currently living in very poor conditions and that the housing stock in many of our CBRM communities is not holding up well. Habitat for Humanity could be part of the solution," said Tasha Dunn a student involved in the movement.

Tapping the resources of the local community and identifying interested parties is the group's next step. Next Monday (that's June 16) there will be a Public Information Session to help them achieve this goal. The meeting will take place at 5:30 pm in room CE 265.

The need for a Habitat branch was identified by the CBRM Housing Revitalization Committee, a committee initiated by CBU, and on which there are representatives from all levels of government.

According to CBU professor Dr. Tom Urbaniak, a group of community studies students stepped forward to meet the need. Two students – Martin Osuru and Dayna MacKay – made a presentation about Habitat to the committee.

"The members were very impressed and were very grateful for what the students have been doing," said Urbaniak.

The situation for many living in Cape Breton is more urgent that we realize and all parties involved are hoping that things will begin to move quickly once the meeting is held next Monday.

CBU's students and faculty continually involve themselves in the community and, more importantly, involve themselves in ways that benefit the community and those in it. A Habitat project will change the lives of many Cape Breton residence who are in desperate need of help and it will also change the lives of those that volunteer. Habitat projects help transform the ways in which we are civically active and in doing so help us realize responsibilities that lay outside of ourselves and our immediate families. Ultimately Habitat creates homes, transforms individuals and creates stronger communities.

Students need to protect their rights

It's the time of year when many students are out looking for a summer job or, if they are lucky, have already found one. If you are lucky, you've managed to find a decent job with a fair boss that will let you stick around until school goes back in September; however, many students are not that lucky.

Many students get stuck in low wage positions and many end up working for people who think the Labour Stands Code is a quaint document that they don't really need to worry about. I have had a few jobs and bosses like these and, like many of you, I have contemplated quitting because of something the boss or a manager had done that I was convinced was unfair (and possible illegal).

The Labour Standards Code is what is used to determine if a business, bosses or managers actions are unfair and illegal. Summer students don't have unions to protect them, but every employee in the province is protected by the rules and regulations laid out in the Code. I want to take some time to highlight important sections that students should be aware of:

Seeing as it is the summer, an important area to touch on is vacation time. While not all students work year round, those that do are eligible for vacation time – two weeks after 12 months of work. You should also be earning vacation pay and building it up year round, unless you have it included in your hourly rate, and you can use that to fund your week or two of time off. If you end up quitting a job and you have unused vacation pay, the employees is required to pay you the balance within 10 business days.

Since we take summer jobs to make money, the section of the Code dealing with pay protection is important. According to part of the Code, you must be paid at least twice a month and you must receive your pay no longer than five business days from the end of the pay period.

I'm not sure how many people end up at McDonald's or Tim's or any other place that requires a uniform, but if you do you should know that the employer is not allowed to deduct the cost of the uniform if it results in you earning less than a minimum wage.

I can't explain the entire Code in the 600 words I am allotted this week, but you can get a brochure on the Internet that explains the Labour Standard Code in detail if you want to know more. If you want the brochure enter http://www.gov.ns.ca/lwd/employmentrights/docs/labourstandardscodeguide.pdf in the address bar of your web browser and it will give you a pdf document. Read it, know it and make sure you act if your employer doe something they shouldn't.

If your employer does do something that is against the Code, don't be afraid to speak out. Confront them, raise the issue and find out how they respond. If it was a mistake, they'll probably fix it. If they don't fix it, know you still have other avenues.

Summer jobs are bad enough without having to worry about employers breaking the law and violating your rights as outlined by the province. The best way to protect yourself this summer is to know your rights, make sure you tell the students you are working with about their rights and take action of something happens.