Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW

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Duelling war rooms: the Ignatieff RESP plank

by Paul Wells on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 3:25pm - 93 Comments

So Michael Ignatieff introduced his “learning passport” scheme this morning at Sheridan College. Very soon after, the Conservative campaign released its critique of Ignatieff’s idea. I sent their press release to the Liberal campaign. Won’t you join me as I watch them argue?

The Policy

$1,000 a year ($1,500 for low-income recipients) from the feds into tax-free savings accounts in the four years before a recipient leaves high school. To be used as payment toward college or university tuition.

The Conservative Response

Verbatim from their war room:

How many students will become ineligible for Canada Student Loans and Canada Student Grants because of Michael Ignatieff’s announcement?

• Did Michael Ignatieff calculate how many students would immediately become ineligible for Canada Student Loans and Canada Student Grants if today’s announcement is implemented?

• Why did Michael Ignatieff not include details about how this would affect Canada Student Loans and Canada Student Grants eligibility in his party’s news release or background documents this morning?

• Are the Ignatieff Liberals proposing to change the Canada Student Loans and Canada Student Grants eligibility rules to ensure no students are adversely affected by today’s announcement? If so, why did they not outline these changes in today’s announcement and what are the costs of those changes?

Background:

Today’s announcement could push some students out of eligibility for the Canada Student Loan and Canada Student Grants Programs. Many families are saving for their children’s education with an RESP, and many students work hard in part-time or summer jobs. For Canada Student Loans and Canada Student Grants, students are eligible if they have $1 of “need”.

If Michael Ignatieff proposes that the federal government give each student a $1,000 grant through their RESP for 4 years, will these hard-working students no longer be eligible for our low/middle income student grants or Canada Student Loans?

Canada Student Grants for middle-income students is $100 per month, up to $1,200 per year. Will students who work at summer jobs no longer be eligible because today’s announcement will move them above the eligibility threshold? Michael Ignatieff proposes to have the federal government give them $1,000 per year, but they would lose $1,200 per year from Canada Student Grants.

For low-income students, if they found themselves in the situation above, the harm is even greater. The Low-Income Grant is $250 per month, up to $3,000 per year. Michael Ignatieff’s proposed $1,500 grant for low-income students means they could lose the $3,000 grant.

Giving with one hand, taking with the other. Either the Ignatieff Liberals are hiding the cost of today’s announcement, or there is a massive policy blunder in the centrepiece of their campaign.

The Liberal Response:

Verbatim from their war room:

The Conservatives don’t seem to understand how the grant program they created in 2008 works.

For students with loans, the Learning Passport will allow all or part of that loan to be replaced by our new GRANT – which means same amount of money without having to pay it back.

Students would not lose a single dollar of Canada Student Grants as the Learning Passport would not count against family income for student loans.

Our plan will help students and their families now, not in 5 years.

Tags: Campaign 2011, RESPs

More by Paul Wells

west newf

I bet the CBC's and Iggy's "red tent don't tell you this!

Micheal Ignatieff is the torture loving Bush Republican. Read what Jane Krieber Dion's wife has to say about Ignatieff. Iggy flip flops and changes his mind on everything. Michael Ignatieff : untrustworthy, dangerous

“To justify violence, he must have really given it serious thought. Otherwise, that's very dangerous. What guarantee would there be that he wouldn't change his mind again?” – Terrorism and counter-terrorism scholar Dr. Janine Krieber, Facebook message as reprinted in Toronto Star, 21 November 2009” from NDP site

“The use of coercive force in a liberal democracy…is regarded as a lesser evil. This particular view of democracy does not prohibit emergency suspensions of rights in times of terror. But it imposes an obligation on government to justify such measures publicly, to submit them to judicial review, and to circumscribe them with sunset clauses so that they do not become permanent.” – Michael Ignatieff, The Lesser Evil: Political ethics in an age of terror, Princeton University Press, 2004 "

"…in a situation of extreme necessity, the possibility, even a slight possibility, that it [torture] may reveal some life saving result would almost certainly overwhelm any consideration that it is evil." – Michael Ignatieff, The Gifford Lectures, University of Edinburgh, January 2003

ON WHEN TORTURE ISN’T EVIL
"…in a situation of extreme necessity, the possibility, even a slight possibility, that it [torture] may reveal some life saving result would almost certainly overwhelm any consideration that it is evil." – Michael Ignatieff, The Gifford Lectures, University of Edinburgh, January 2003

..”Following a 2005 lecture at the University of Dublin’s Trinity College, Ignatieff excoriated Canadians for trading on Canada’s “entirely bogus reputation as peacekeepers” for 40 years and for favouring “hospitals and schools and roads” over international citizenship. “If you are a human rights defender and you want something done to stop [a] massacre, you have to go to the Pentagon, because no one else is serious,” ……..Ignatieff said.” Macleans July 17/09 Martin Patriquin

The real Michael Igantieff Liberal leader !
YYZ

The Liberal war-room is 2 for 2! They clearly won the education fight (only an idiot thinks this is bad policy) and they clearly won the income splitting fight (Conservatives will provide relief to corporations now but wait 5 years for families)

The narrative of the campaign "fighter jets/prisons vs. health and education" is a very good one – if the Liberals stick to the script instead of changing strategies every 5 minutes they might actually not get thumped.

All-in-all….it's nice to see a much more evenly matched campaign this time around!
Capt CB

And when that student does not attend; how do you get money back? I think we need to make sure they pass there finals and get a job; then give the money to pay down their debt. Only a stooge pays for services not yet rendered. Likewise you do not pay for education not received with proof of the end exam results.