Leonard Preyra - MLA for Halifax Citadel – Sable Island

N.S. gets picture of student debt
Education Department reviewing student assistance programs
By KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE Education Reporter
Fri. Jan 11 – 5:34 AM
Hundreds of personal stories recently collected from across Nova Scotia are shedding some light on the money troubles of the province’s post-secondary students.
Education Department spokesman Dan Harrison said more than 600 individuals and groups expressed their [...]

MR. LEONARD PREYRA: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education. A survey of 2003 university graduates by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission provided insights into the crushing debt burden being borne by Nova Scotia’s students. The survey found that 65 per cent of the undergraduates from the class of 2003 borrowed [...]

December 12, 2007
Halifax – Leonard Preyra, NDP Post-Secondary Education Critic, today asked the Minister of Education, Karen Casey, how she plans to address the multitude of concerns about post-secondary education in Nova Scotia.
“A survey of 2003 graduates found that 65 per cent of those students borrowed to achieve their first degree, half of whom are [...]

November 29, 2007
Halifax – Leonard Preyra, NDP Post-Secondary Education Critic, today asked the Minister of Education, Karen Casey, why the government has not attempted to reach a bilateral agreement with the Federal government to integrate the two student loan programs incorporating the best of both systems.
“Both the Canadian Federation of Students and the Alliance of [...]

MR. LEONARD PREYRA: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education. Despite her department’s attempt to fudge the figures, Nova Scotia university students still pay over $2,000 above the national average in compulsory tuition fees. Nova Scotia is one of only two provinces without a needs-based grants program. As a result, according to [...]

MR. LEONARD PREYRA: Mr. Speaker, it’s my pleasure to come here today and to speak in support of Bill No. 9, which effectively amends the Municipal Finance Corporation Act. If passed, this bill would give universities the ability to borrow from a renamed, public infrastructure, finance corporation.
Our universities are among Nova Scotia’s largest and most [...]

November 19, 2007
Halifax – Leonard Preyra, MLA for Halifax Citadel and NDP Post-Secondary Education Critic, will introduce a private member’s bill in this session of the legislature that, if passed, would give universities the ability to borrow from a renamed Municipal Finance Corporation for infrastructure maintenance. To recognize the broadening of its mandate, in addition [...]