SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Students and those affected by recent scholarship cuts got together at the legislative assembly on June 4 to have their voices heard and to pressure the government into reinstating the program.

Education minister Jackson Lafferty addresses the nearly 40 protesters gathered outside the legislative assembly last Thursday to protest the government's axing of the Northwest Territories Student Financial Assistance merit-based scholarship program. - Herb Mathisen/NNSL photo

A little less than 40 students - the majority of them enrolled at St. Patrick's High School - protested the government's March decision to cut the Northwest Territories Student Financial Assistance merit-based scholarship program.

Laura Johnston, a nursing student at Aurora College, said she thought the timing of the cut was bad, as students learned of the news while they were hunkered down writing exams.

"It seemed kind of sneaky that they did it while everyone was at school," she said.

Under the now-defunct program, students leaving high school to attend a post-secondary institution were entitled to $1,000 from the government if their average grade was 80 per cent or higher. The scholarship also provided assistance to undergraduate students ($2,000), masters students ($5,000) and doctorate students ($10,000), who achieved academic excellence.

Lorraine Westman, who organized the protest, learned of the cut through a student financial assistance newsletter.

While she had hoped for a larger turnout, she said the protest was organized to bring up some debate in the legislative assembly.

She said many students had banked on the scholarship money and now will be at a loss without it. The $2,000 an undergraduate like Westman was eligible for would have helped her financially during her work practicum, which is unpaid.

She said the territorial government was failing to see how the scholarship worked as a return on investment. As graduate students spend most of their summers working on their theses papers, they may have trouble making ends meet. However, she said many students from the territory write their papers on the North, which is of value to the NWT.

Westman listed off some government perks and initiatives like Donny Days pay and the government's commitment to the Vancouver Olympics as places where the GNWT could take money to pay for the scholarship program.

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus was also on hand to show his opposition to the cuts.

He said he hoped the government reinstated the program immediately to help students who were planning the scholarship money into their budgets. Then, he said, the government could review the program.

In the legislative assembly, Bob Bromley, Weledeh MLA, raised a motion to recommend the reinstatement of merit-based scholarships effective this year. However, he called for awards to be reduced by half this year, with further reductions the following year.

The motion also called for a redesign of the program, with its primary focus on recognizing academic excellence.

Westman said she supported the motion.

"Our mandate is to get the scholarships back in full," she said. "Getting it back in half is at least a start."

Bromley also tabled a petition - with 370 signatures from Yellowknife residents - calling for the reinstatement of the program.

The motion passed, with three regular MLAs representing constituencies without larger centres - David Krutko, Kevin Menicoche and Norman Yakeleya - opposing the motion. The MLAs said the program did not benefit their constituents and would rather see the money put into the NWT school system to help students in smaller communities.

Education Minister Jackson Lafferty was non-committal after the motion.

He has said the department needed to make reductions and it chose the scholarship program. Lafferty has maintained this program was cut because it affected only about 100 students, as opposed to the 1,400 who receive grants and loans from student financial assistance.

Bromley said last Friday he wasn't at all confident the government was going to seriously consider the motion.

He encouraged students to continue writing letters to Lafferty to lobby for reinstating the program.

"I think it would be excellent for people to express their concerns to the minister," he said.

The government made the cut to save $400,000.

In 2007-08, the government spent $272,000 on the program and Bromley said last year, more than $380,000 was spent on scholarships.