I have a question on clarification with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. What is the timeline that student loans are forgivable? When do they become eligible for forgiveness? Thank you.
Debates of Oct. 19th, 2004
This is page numbers 819 - 854 of the Hansard for the 15th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was work.
Topics
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Madam Chair. The process would be if once the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has used its own avenues to try to recoup money owed to it, the file then would be handed to us and a number of events happen and are put into practice and are taken into consideration. I am being told that it goes into remission from the department side of Education, then when it comes to us then we go through the process of trying to further collect. Maybe I'll have Mr. Voytilla give you more detail.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Voytilla
Thank you, Madam Chair. There are three ways that a student loan can get dealt with. One is if the student is eligible for remission when they return to the Northwest Territories and gain employment, they can have elements of their loan or the full loan over time remitted in that it's an incentive for our students to both complete their education and come back to work in the Territories. That's one way they can get the loan addressed.
The other way is if they complete their studies or even if they interrupt their studies and they don't return or are somehow ineligible for remission, then they can repay the loan and we would enter into a repayment plan with them. If for any reason the loan does not get remitted or repaid, then we would put it into collection activity and we would try to work out a payment plan with the student and try to resolve the debt.
In situations where we have tried to find the student, some of them might leave the Territories and not leave forwarding addresses and we aren't able to track them down, if after six years we have not been able to perform any substantive collection on the account, then the account becomes statute barred and we cannot legally further pursue the account, and many of these accounts in here are of that nature. So perhaps the answer to the member's question is that six years is rather a key date because that's the legislation that means that the account is statute barred if in that six years we have not been able to or have not taken any collection action.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Robert Villeneuve Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Madam Chair. Six years seems pretty reasonable I guess. Once it gets forgiven is there any kind of a reporting to any credit bureaus letting them know that these people have outstanding loans, they have been forgiven? Is there any kind of process in place such as the one that the NWT Housing Corp had undertaken where people in public housing that had outstanding arrears in their public housing accounts were being recorded to the credit bureau and the credit bureau companies could refuse credit card applications, loan applications and such? Does this work around the same guidelines as something that the NWT Housing Corp was pursuing?
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Madam Chair. That process would have kicked in the write-off part of the act, not this one. At this point at the forgiveness stage, there is no action that is triggered in that nature. It's triggered in a previous act that would have happened where it went for write off at that point and it does trigger the reporting to the credit bureau. Thank you.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Robert Villeneuve Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe the Minister could inform the members which act would you want to fall under. Would you want to fall under the write-off act or would you want to fall under the Forgiveness of Debts Act? Do people have a choice of which act they get their loan under? Thank you.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Madam Chair. If I had it given to me, I guess it would be forgiveness, then it wouldn't be on the books anymore, but there is no choice in the matter. The first stage would be that when the account went bad it would come into our hands. Collection would try again depending on the years as Mr. Voytilla mentioned. At that point then we would note them as being unlikely to be able to recover those and they go into the write off of debts. At that point the debt quits growing in a sense of the interest costs, but we still have avenues to go and collect. After that if we still see no opportunity or know that it's just not going to come about that we'd be able to get our funds, we would then go to this stage of write off. Thank you.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 852
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 853
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 853
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 853
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 853
The Chair Jane Groenewegen
Agreed. Does the committee agree that Bill 10 is ready for third reading?
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 853
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 853
The Chair Jane Groenewegen
Agreed. Thank you. Bill 10 is now ready for third reading and I'd like to thank Minister Roland and Mr. Voytilla for their attendance. Thank you. What is the wish of the committee now, Mr. Menicoche?
Committee Motion 19-15(3): Contracting Clauses Requiring Compliance With The Access To Information And Privacy Protection Act, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 853
