Are you a member of an organization or group that supports affordable public services? Please consider joining the campaign's growing list of supporters.

We've made it easy by drafting a list of six quick and easy things that your organization can do to really make a difference in this campaign. Your organization can:

1. circulate the enclosed copy of the campaign petition within your office and mail it back to the CFS-BC once it is completed;
2. send copies of the petition and campaign materials to your members and/or affiliates;
3. write a letter to Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development Moira Stilwell expressing your organization's support for the campaign;
4. add a link to DebtSentence.ca to your website and/or in the body of an e-newsletter to your members (we can provide you with a small banner ad for your website if requested);
5. provide space for a short write-up about the campaign in your next membership newsletter; and
6. let us know if you have any ideas for linking the Education Shouldn't be a Debt Sentence campaign to your organization's work in order to further the collective goals of our two organizations.

Sample Motion

To get you started, here's a sample motion of endorsement and support that you can put forward at a meeting of your organization:

Whereas education is a right not a privilege; and

Whereas over 70% of all new jobs in Canada require some post-secondary education; and

Whereas in January 2009 total outstanding Canada Student Loan debt surpassed $13 billion; and

Whereas student debt in BC is highest in Canada outside of the Maritimes at an average of $27,000 plus interest upon the completion of a four-year post-secondary program; and

Whereas tuition fees accounted for 39.7% of BC universities' and colleges' operating revenue in 2007, an increase of over 55% in just ten years; and

Whereas the flat tax known as tuition fees is projected by the BC government to make up a greater portion of provincial government revenue than corporate income taxes by the year 2011; and

Whereas the BC government provides 60% less non-repayable financial aid than the national average (the lowest amount of any province); and

Whereas per-student funding has declined in British Columbia since 2001, resulting in many academic services being cut back and the loss of unionized faculty and staff through layoffs and attrition; and

Whereas the Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia has launched a campaign to reverse these trends and make post-secondary education in BC more affordable and of higher-quality; therefore

Be it resolved that the "Education Shouldn't be a Debt Sentence" campaign of the Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia be endorsed; and

Be it further resolved that a letter be written to the BC Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development expressing support for the "Education Shouldn't be a Debt Sentence" campaign; and

Be it further resolved that a link to DebtSentence.ca be added to the ***ORGANIZATION*** website.

If you would like more information, please e-mail questions@debtsentence.ca.

Want to circulate the petition at home, in your workplace, or in your community? Download and print as many copies as you think you can get signatures on, and mail it to the campaign address at the bottom when you're done.

Good luck! 

BCCPAC is a charitable organization registered under the Society Act of BC and committed to enhancing the parental voice in public education in BC.

BCCPAC's purposes are:

• To advance the public school education and well-being of children in the province of BC.
• To carry on activities to promote and enhance meaningful parent participation in an advisory role at the school, school district and provincial levels.

The Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations is an umbrella organization made up of 75+ seniors' organizations as well as a significant number of individual associate members. COSCO exists to assemble, co-ordinate and advance proposals and resolutions concerned with the welfare of elder citizens, and submit them to the appropriate government bodies; and to advance the social and physical welfare of all elder citizens in the province of British Columbia.

First Call is a coalition of individuals and organizations whose purpose is to create greater understanding of and advocacy for legislation, policy, and practice to ensure that all children and youth have the opportunities and resources required to achieve their full potential and to participate in the challenges of creating a better society. 

Overseen by the non-profit Student Finance 101 Society, this help-site (formerly known both as Debt 101 and Student Finance 101) offers resources to meet the needs of more than 2 million Canadians. They include:

• High school students (how to finance their post-secondary education)
• Current students (how to get their education with minimum debt)
• Former students (how to cope with education and other debt)