PORT ALBERNI-Hundreds more British Columbians signed the petition to reduce student debt this week as the Education Shouldn't be a Debt Sentence tour passed through North Island College. The tour is organized by the Canadian Federation of Students-BC and will swing through campuses across the province in February and March. 

"BC families are suffering as record high tuition fees have led to record high student debt," said CFS-BC Chairperson Shamus Reid. "Whether they were students, staff, faculty, or administrators, hardly a person walked by without signing the petition to reduce student debt."

Playing host to the campaign tour, the North Island Students' Union held free soup kitchens and gathered signatures on the petition from Monday to Wednesday on the Campbell River, Courtenay, and Port Alberni campuses of the College.

"For far too many North Island College students, education is a debt sentence," said NISU Chairperson Jaden Keitlah. "We need our North Island MLAs-Claire Trevena, Scott Fraser, and Don McRae-to stand up for their constituents and make reducing student debt a priority."

Tuition fees have more than doubled in BC since 2001 as per-student funding has been cut. The elimination of the BC grants program in 2004 accelerated student debt accumulation to the point where average debt upon the graduation of a four-year program now exceeds $27,000. Meanwhile, BC has the highest interest rates in the country on its student loans.

The CFS-BC's campaign calls for the BC government to reduce tuition fees, re-establish a grants program, eliminate interest on student loans, and restore funding to universities and colleges.

The Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia is BC's provincial student organization, representing 150,000 university and college students at all levels of post-secondary education in BC. It is non-partisan and affiliated with Canada's largest national student organization, the Canadian Federation of Students.

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