Liberal promises ‘just a way to get young voters,’ student says

Riley Maracle, a 22-year-old Loyalist College student from Wilberforce, Ont., says he’s unsure about the Liberal party’s promises on student debt. Photo by Andrew Harper

By Andrew Harper

BELLEVILLE – Loyalist student Riley Maracle says he’s uncertain about Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s recent promises about helping post-secondary students.

On Monday, as he announced his full detailed platform for the Liberal party, Trudeau promised that Canadians coming out of college or university will not have to repay student loans until they reach an annual salary of at least $25,000.

Maracle graduated  from the Journalism Online, Print and Broadcast program at Loyalist last spring and is now doing a second diploma in the public-relations program. He says the propositions by the Liberal party are helpful, but they could do more.

“It’s okay in a way, (but) $25,000 a year isn’t a great salary,” Maracle said. “I know some people who graduated last year who are barely surviving on $25,000 a year. I think this is just a way to get young voters.”

The Liberals have also proposed increasing the maximum Canada Student Grants for low-income students to $3,000 annually for full-time students and $1,800 for part-time students, an increase of 50 per cent.

The party promises to work with the provinces on education and providing support for those who need it.

According to a Statistics Canada report, in 2009-10, almost 43 per cent of college graduates and 50 per cent of university graduates required government or non-government loans to help finance their education. College students graduated with an average debt of $14,900, while for university students the average debt was $26,000.