Pressure to repay student loans intensifies

» Canada Revenue Agency to increase collection efforts

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
© news@theotherpress.ca

he Canada Revenue Agency

(CRA) is expected to place
increasing pressure on students
who have taken out student
loans, according to some letters
exchanged between the CRA
and Employment and Social
Development Canada (ESDC)
that were revealed by the
Canadian Press. Such efforts
may result in the CRA being
able to directly contact those
who have taken out student
loans.

The Canadian government
is required to write off millions
in owing student debt each
year. In the 2012-13 fiscal year,
the government wrote off over
$300 million in uncollected
student debt dues to a variety
of reasons; go per cent of cases
were due to an inability to
contact borrowers within a six-
year legal limit on collection, as
well as reasons of bankruptcy.
The efforts of the CRA to collect
overdue loans had proven to
be costly and time consuming
due to the agency having
outdated contact information
and being unable to request
said information from other
agencies due to privacy laws.

lan Shugart, then-deputy
minister at the ESDC, wrote

: a letter in October 2014 to his

: counterpart at the CRA saying

: that the Conservative party

: had requested the ESDC to

: “improve recoveries and reduce
: the write-off” of student debts,
: as revealed by the Canadian

: Press. Shugart used the letter

: to request the assistance of

: the CRA and to, “reassure my

: minister that all reasonable

: efforts are being made to

> increase recoveries and reduce

: (loan) write-off amounts.”

Since then, the CRA and

: ESDC have been exchanging
: information, including

: personal contact information
: of borrowers, in order to aid

: with the collection of student
: loans. According to ESDC

: spokesperson Marie-France

: Faucher, this exchange of

: information will allow for the
: ESDC to take more drastic

: action towards collection.

The new relationship

: formed between the CRA
: and ESDC has been received
: critically by the Canadian
: Federation of Students, with :
: Bilan Arte, national chairperson : |

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: for the Canadian Federation
: of Students, suggesting to

: the Canadian Press that the
: “government [...] is more

: concerned about the public

: image [...] rather than the

: reality that perhaps these

? numbers are indicative of a

: pretty big crisis that needs
: immediate address.”

: student debt problem, CIBC
: released a poll that suggests
: an increasing amount of
: concern from students in

 

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: regards to educational and

: post-graduation finances. The
In relation to the increasing :
: students are concerned about
: finding a job witha stable,

: decent salary. Another 27 per
: cent of those students worry

poll finds that 37 per cent of

Image via thinkstock

: about being able to balance
: both tuition payments and
: living expenses simultaneously,
: and 21 per cent are stressed
: about being able to pay off their
: student loans upon graduation.

 

Death of red panda at Vancouver Zoo sparks protests

» Animal’s death among one of many controversies surrounding zoo

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
© news@theotherpress.ca

red panda, named Rakesh,

died of a fungal infection
while being quarantined in
the Greater Vancouver Zoo in
August. The animal’s death
comes only two months after
being transferred, along with his
brother, to Vancouver from the
Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg,
Manitoba.

Veterinarians at the Greater
Vancouver Zoo found that
Rakesh died from a fungal
infection called pulmonary
blastomycosis. The infection
manifests itself in soil, wood,

The veterinarians believe
that Rakesh contracted the
infection from Winnipeg before
being transferred to Vancouver,
as animals under quarantine at
the Vancouver Zoo are placed in
a sterile, soil-free environment.

Signs of the infection went
undetected within Rakesh.

“This infection can lie

: dormant for up to six years in an
: animal,” said Jody Henderson,

: the zoo’s general manager, to

: CBC. “So it’s not something

: that’s easily detectable.”

As a precaution, Rakesh’s

: brother, Arun, is being treated
> for the infection.

The zoo has since received

: some negative attention with
: many animal activists protesting :
: outside of the zoo on August 30.

Members of the Vancouver

: Humane Society were quick to

: comment on the situation, such
: as spokesperson Peter Fricker.

: Fricker voiced tothe CBC that
: unless there is a matter of urgent :
: conservation, animals should
: not be kept in captivity.
leaves, and other organic matter. :

“What we're seeing

currently is that zoos are doing
: relatively little conservation

: work,” Fricker said. “And as far

: as we're concerned, they’re still

: primarily about putting animals
: on display for profit.”

Animal welfare has been

> a concern to conservation and
: humane societies for years.
: There have been several other

: notable cases at the Vancouver

: Zoo with regard to the

: conditions that the animals are

: being kept in. More recently,

: a Siberian tiger unexpectedly

: died in 2014 after sudden

: heart failure. Three giraffes

: died between 2011 and 2012,

: supposedly due to the climate.

: Four zebras passed away in 2009

buffalo in their habitat. As to

: enclosure conditions, the zoo

: came under fire in 2006 due to

: hippopotamus being housed ina
: pen that was too small.

: under scrutiny, but the zoo’s

: security levels as well. In the

: midst of the storm that occurred
: in Metro Vancouver on August

: 29, there was a security breach

: which allowed a grizzly bear,

: among other animals, to escape

: their pens. All visitors at the zoo
: were placed under lockdown for

: three hours before the area was

: cleared for visitors to evacuate

: the zoo.

after the introduction of Cape

Not only have the living
conditions of the animals come

 

Image by Snowmanradio via wikimedia