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LONDON, Ont. — Liberal leader Stéphane Dion proposed a revamp of the tax system for students and broader access to financial aid, including the introduction of $3,500 bursaries for poorer students.
At a stop at University of Western Ontario in London this morning, Mr. Dion said that he would replace the system of tax credits students receive for things like tuition, books, and the GST with a $1,000 a year credit paid in cheques sent up front every three months.
The current system is too complex, and revolves around students transferring their expenses to their parents for credits on their income tax, Mr. Dion said.
He also promised that if the Liberals are elected, the current needs-based system of student loans would be replaced by universal access to a loan of up to $5,000 a year. He said too many middle-class students are refused student loans because their parents' incomes are judged too high.
"Middle class families are not always able to offer their children the money they need to go to college or university," Mr. Dion said.
The broader student aid package would cost $500-million over four years, he said.
In addition, he pledged a system of 200,000 $3,500 bursaries for students in low-income families within four years, and access grants of $4,000 for students from groups that are under-represented in universities, like aboriginals or persons with disabilities.
Those bursaries and access grants would be financed out of a an education fund the federal government would build up to $25 billion in 20 years.
Mr. Dion said the government would inject a "few hundred million" dollars a year into that fund, but it would leverage more because the government can profit from the difference in interest rates on money it borrows and money it lends.
He also proposed sizable increases in federal funds for universities for indirect costs for researchers – a 50 per cent increase from now to $500-million per year in four years time. And he promised a $450-million increase for federal research grants.
