PC 033 003_06

[Transcript] demand for assistance is greater than forecast as has been done in the past. Accordingly, a priority list consisting of five student categories has been drawn up, with Indian and Inuit students who were enrolled in post-secondary studies in 1986/87 and continuing in 1987/88 heading the list. If funds run out early, eligible students in the lower categories, such as students beginning postgraduate studies or professional degree studies (category 4) will be left out.

The capping of funds for the PSEAP will have very serious effects on Indian post-secondary studies, especially in Ontario and British Columbia which have the highest Indian populations and the most successful secondary school systems for Indians (and hence the largest number of potential post-secondary students). Almost all Indian students who do not receive assistance will have no other way of attending a post-secondary institution.

In August 1987, Liberal Indian affairs critic Keith Penner predicted the in the House of Commons that only students in priorities one and two will receive funding in 1987/88. Eligible high school graduates, mature students enrolling for the first time, students beginning law, medicine and education degrees, and any student who has dropped out for any reason whatsoever, will not receive assistance.

The capping of PSEAP funds will probably have little or no effect on Inuit students given that there are very few secondary schools in the north and programs which once enabled Inuit students to attend high schools in Winnipeg and Ottawa have been discontinued. As a result, there are not enough Inuit post-secondary students currently enrolled, nor enough potential post-secondary students, to have any applicant refused PSEAP funding by regional offices as a result of capping.

The changes in policy regarding the PSEAP have been rejected by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which says it intends to co-ordinate a national pressure campaign to reverse the capping of funding. The AFN underlines the fact that in April 1985 the Prime Minister said policies affecting aboriginal people would be made only in consultation with the people concerned. There has been no consultation over the current policy changes to PSEAP, although DIAND suggests that the current measures are temporary, to be used until changes can be developed with the input of Indian leaders.

The policy changes have also been questioned in the House of Commons, and in the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. In August 1987 Mr. Penner said in the Commons that the case put forward by the Minister of DIAND "is that the participation rate of this program has grown. Ten years ago there were 3,500 eligible students in this Indian post-secondary education program, and today there are 12,000. The costs have grown from $8 million to $93.7 million. That is the beginning and that is the end of the Minister's case."

[Illustration] U. of Regina: will native students be shut out of the system? Photo: U. of Regina