Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, later today I will table the report on the Ministerial Forum on Student Financial Assistance. Although a number of changes have been made to the Student Financial Assistance Program in recent years, it has not been reviewed in depth since 1980. Since that time, the number of students using the program has grown considerably. In 1994, the Auditor General of Canada raised concerns about the program's objectives, results and the management of the program's costs. To find out what northerners thought about the program and to gather their ideas on how to make it sustainable, I established the Ministerial Forum on Student Financial Assistance earlier this year.
The forum carried out consultations in Iqaluit, Inuvik and Yellowknife during the summer. Representatives from all northern communities were invited to participate. Discussions focused on four areas; access, shared responsibility, sustainability and delivery. People who could not make presentation to the ministerial forum were able to mail in their comments. In all, the forum heard from more than 225 people and organizations.
I presented the report, Mr. Speaker, to the Standing Committee on Social Programs on November 27th and invited comments on it. The forum's report includes 50 recommendations for making the Student Financial Assistance Program more responsive to the needs of students. The department will start working on options for revising the program based on the forums' recommendations. Communication with the standing committee, students, parents and communities will continue as we move through this process. The department plans to make some changes that will respond to the forum's recommendations and improve the delivery of the program by September of 1998. For example, the department will enhance support services to students by providing better orientation and preparation sessions, as well as personal followup during the initial phase of their post secondary education. The process of applying for student financial assistance will also be simplified. Long-term changes will be considered for implementation in April of 1999.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the members of the forum for their hard work and dedication to this project. The level of detail in the report shows the effort they put into ensuring a wide range of ideas and opinions represented to the government for consideration. Mr. Speaker, the members of the forum were Judy Anilniliak of Iqaluit, Ruby Jumbo of Trout Lake, Wendy Colpitts of Yellowknife and Jason Lepine of Fort Smith. The forum was chaired by Louise Vertes of Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.