Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 20/00) -- For Norma Jean Jarvis it's pretty straightforward: the government has broken its promise to her.

Jarvis, a married mother of three, is one of an estimated 100 students caught between the old Student Financial Assistance program and the revised version the government introduced last spring.

The 22-year resident of the North found out how the changes effect her on Aug. 22, when she went to get her student loans this year.

"I started the program under the premise that I would have remissible loans and now I don't," said Jarvis Wednesday.

Under the old rules, the ones in effect last year when Jarvis first applied for student financial assistance, students did not have to pay off government loans if they remained in the North once they graduated.

"There was no mention that there was a possibility that would change," said Jarvis.

Under the new program, only students who were schooled in the North qualify for remissable loans. Jarvis was not.

This week, with the help of Frame Lake MLA Charles Dent, Jarvis decided to turn up the pressure on the government by going public with her complaint.

"No one should receive less than what they were promised in the first place," Dent said. "It speaks to how much we should trust people in government."

But Education Minister Jake Ootes said the redesign, carried out by a ministerial forum, was aimed at increasing support for aboriginal students and those educated in the North. Ootes said the government simply could not afford to put more money in those student's pockets and grandfather students who entered under the old rules.

"It's also an issue of financial possibilities," said Ootes. "We haven't cut off anyone. There's still the ability to access funding."

Dent questioned government estimates that it would cost $300,000 a year to allow students who registered under the old program to continue under the old terms. The government has taken the position that it cannot afford to 'grandfather' students registered under the old program.

"I have a real problem with that number, because its based on the new remission rates (which allow loans to be remitted over a shorter term)," said Dent. "I don't believe the amount would be that high."

Dent also noted that last year the Student Financial Assistance spent $800,000 less than it had.

Both he and Jarvis, who is continuing with her two-year eye technology program despite the setback, said money is always available to allow government workers to continue at their old salaries when their positions are reclassified to a lower salary level.