Velthuis s Editor The Vancouver Chapter of the Council of Canadians recently called on the provincial government to abandon the 2010 Olympic bid. According to the Council, the Olympics are not essential, and with the government cutting spending on all kinds of services, the Olympic bid and the huge cost that would be involved in hosting the Olympics shouldn't even be an option. “Here we have a government slashing spending on every kind of serv- ice needed by British Columbians—even the rape-crisis phone line— because of its huge, self imposed deficit, but then proclaiming that it will go and spend $6 billion on a two week event. It’s outrageous,” claimed Murray Dobbin, chair of the Vancouver Chapter of the Council of Canadians. The Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation states on their website that “The Bid Corporation’s Transportation Plan will meet the needs of travelers during and after the Games...A winning 2010 bid combined with an expanded convention centre in Vancouver could generate up to $10 bil- lion in direct economic activity, and create about 228,000 direct and indirect jobs across the province.” The Council disagrees, saying that hosting the Olympics would be irre- sponsible. “To spend $1.5 billion just so people can get to the Olympics is a ter- rible basis for a decision about where to spend a limited transportation budget...it's a question of priorities. We can’t have everything,” said Dobbin. DC David Lam campus student Erica Cross thinks bringing the Olympics to Vancouver is a good idea. “T think it will bring a lot of money to the city and I personally would be up there [at Whistler] in a second to watch the games. It would enrich our city, culturally and economically,” she said. The Council of Canadians refer to themselves as a “watchdog” organ- ization of over 100,000 members and 70 chapters country-wide. Founded in 1985, they are strictly non-partisan and do not accept fund- ing from corporations or the government, running completely on the volunteer efforts of their members. The Council lobbies parliament, does research and runs campaigns which, according to their website, are aimed at “building stronger communities and a just Canada.” say Harding Muse JOHN’S, NFLD. (CUP)—Although government ials are considering changes to the legislation outlin- access to Canada Student Loans for refugees, advo- say the process has already gone on too long. man Resources Development Canada (HRDC) inisters the federal student loan program under the ent Financial Assistance Act. According to the act, bees cannot obtain Canada Student Loans because landed immigrants and Canadian citizens are eligi- © years ago, a private member's bill proposed the Hs “protected person” be added to the Act’s definition qualifying student, thus allowing refugees in Canada bply for financial assistance. e bill, presented by Toronto MP Bill Graham on f of human rights lobbyists, was defeated when it H to attract all parties’ support in the House of ons. et Bench, executive director of the Canadian incil for Refugees, says her organization is one of ly groups now petitioning government to bring forth lation similar to the defeated bill. e are urging...the federal government and _ the provincial governments and the territorial govern- ments...to change their criteria for access to the loans and bursaries so that it’s not only citizens and permanent residents that are eligible but also refugees,” she said. Katalin Deczky, a policy director for the Canada Student Loans program, says HRDC is considering such a move. “Any extension outside of [citizens and permanent res- idents] would need changes in the act and, therefore, par- liament approval,” she said. “It’s certainly under consid- eration.” According to Deczky, granting refugees access to stu- dent loans has already been brought up at meetings of the National Advisory Group on Student Financial Assistance, which makes recommendations to Stewart about changes to the loans program. “Acts of parliament are quite lengthy to change and it certainly will take time,” she said. “I really can’t comment because this is decided by parliamentarians, not by bureaucrats.” Bench, however, says the issue has been talked about for long enough and the federal government’s lack of action is delaying the process provincially. “It's been discussed for years and it seems to take for- ever to actually get to happen,” she said. “Some of [the provincial governments] were willing to indicate to the federal government that they would be willing to make the change if the federal government made the first move.” Both federal and provincial governments contribute to the student loans program. The provinces contribute 40 percent of the loan a stu- dent receives, while Ottawa provides the remainder. For this reason, provincial authorities say it would be ineffec- tive to pursue changes without federal support. Sandra Kelly, Newfoundland’s minister responsible for overnment Urged to Grant Refugees Loans vocate says policy means local refugees unable to afford education post-secondary education, says changes made only in the province would not have an impact and the issue needs to be examined nationally. “I would like to ask that it be put on the agenda [of the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education] because I know that there are other changes that are needed to the Canada Student Loan program,” she said. “We have so few people who become refugees in Newfoundland . . . it would be very uncommon here in our province to have refugees who were looking at attending university.” However, Donna Geoffreys, director of the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council in St. John’s, says the regulations are a form of discrimination that impact refugees locally. She says Newfoundland sees a number of refugees being denied access to student loans. “Taking a certain year, you could say there were 15, or 20, or maybe 25 [refugees] that were ready for university education, or to continue or to go back into, and they couldnt,” she said. “So it depends on what you call large. These are people that would benefit if they could get into the university — they'd obviously have to get a loan, there’s no way they could go through.” Ally Ayoob, president of Memorial University’s International Student Centre, says he knows of cases where refugees attending Memorial have had to delay their education due to lack of funding. He says the strug- gle to finance post-secondary education is a problem for everyone in society. “Financially, [refugees are] not safe. So that means they have to resort to any small job and that [causes] lack of education—they can’t go to school,” he said. He says the government is “not improving the under- class people, it won't be improving the economy if you dont give [refugees] the chance and financial support.” page 3 ©