Thank you. I just want to mention another thing in this area, and that is the fact that those students with a disability should have as much statutory protection as the students without a disability. Literacy programs like the one being mentioned that is administered by the Council for Disabled Persons are good and fine, but they don't have the kind of weight and permanence and the message that other students get. So we have a system, it seems to me, where those in the mainstream who finish high school and they get to post-secondary education, whether it's a diploma or a degree in some university or college, they apply for SFA and they get it and they're benefited and they do fine. We have lots of products of that sitting around this table. But those students who have various degrees of disabilities who need help in the interim in order for them to get to the post-secondary education, the conventional universities and colleges, or when they need help to get a job, they don't have the kind of statutory protection that exists under student financial assistance, for example.

I know of a case where a student who was admitted to such a program applied under student financial assistance. At first he was denied, but by way of appeal to the Student Financial Assistance Appeal Board, the appeals board stated that those with disabilities should also get funding from student financial assistance. I believe it really was incumbent on the government to follow up on the board decision. But the communication that I've been getting from the Minister is that that is somehow an anomaly, and the department would not respect that decision. So I'm wondering why the Minister would not give the weight of protection by law, statutory protection for those with a disability so that they don't have to be going to different programs and begging to the Council for Disabled Persons. That they be treated equally so that when they finish high school, they don't have to fight tooth and nail to get assistance to get into the next stage of their life, which is available to everybody else, which is to go to post-secondary education and get a job.

So I have to ask the Minister why is it that the department is choosing not to respect the decisions of the Student Financial Assistance Appeals Board and are going against that ruling? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.