How would you tackle rising student debt?

The house was packed and the words heated Monday night as the candidates for Halifax in the federal election debated in the McInnes Room.

Some of the harshest words came not from the candidates, but from the crowd. Many of the questioners lined up at the microphones were openly critical of the current government. When the allotted time for the debate ran out, the crowd protested until more time was added for questions. The debate only concluded when moderator Costas Halavrezos of CBC Radio informed the audience that the room absolutely had to be closed for clean-up.

On stage last night were Ted Larsen of the Conservative Party; Tony Seed of the Marxist-Leninist Party; Catherine Meade of the Liberal Party; Darryl Whetter of the Green Party; and Megan Leslie of the New Democratic Party. For over an hour and a half, they debated issues ranging from the economy; to the role of Canada’s military in the world; to the environment and the candidates’ plans to combat climate change.

Given the venue, education was top-of-mind for the candidates and the debate started with three prepared questions from the Dalhousie Student Union. DSU vice president education Mark Coffin asked the candidates what steps they would take to tackle the issue of rising student debt, and got very different answers from the candidates.

Ms. Meade said Liberals would increase needs-based grants, give every student access to at least $5,000 per year in loans regardless of parental income and quadruple the interest-free grace period to two years. Dr. Whetter, who teaches creative writing at Dalhousie, vowed the Greens would cut each student’s debt load by 50 per cent immediately upon their graduation. Mr. Seed said he believed all student debt should be forgiven. Ms. Leslie pledged the NDP would establish a post-secondary act with the provinces with dedicated funding tied to issues of student aid. Mr. Larsen said that he would push the government to change the federal funding formula for post-secondary education from a per-capita basis to a per-student one. He also championed the government’s new grants program launching in fall 2009 but emphasized that, “we have to live within our means.”

When asked by former DSU president Mike Tipping about whether they would support a pan-Canadian accord or act between the provinces and the federal government on the subject of education, all candidates said they would be open to such a proposal. Mr. Tipping’s successor, Courney Larkin, asked the candidates about graduate student funding. The NDP, Liberal and Green candidates all pledged they would increase tri-council funding for graduate students. Mr. Larsen pointed to the government’s measures thus far—including new scholarships for doctoral students—but stressed that they were the best they could do for now. Mr. Seed asked the crowd to question for whom graduate students are being trained in the first place.

The debate was co-sponsored by the DSU and Dalhousie University. Gillian Wood, assistant vice president of government relations at Dalhousie, introduced the debate on behalf of the university, explaining that the forum served as “a reminder that public discussion is an important part of our election preparation.”

READ: Economy dominates Halifax debate in The Chronicle Herald.