Students continue to call on the Government of New Brunswick to reinstate NB-EI Connect after it was slashed without warning on June 23.
The province said the program was never intended to fund post-secondary education or serve as a form of student aid and that it fell outside of the federal government’s requirements for receiving EI benefits.
Demonstrations opposing the move were held over the weekend in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton.
Sarah Durelle, a fifth-year student studying political science at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said losing the program means a lot of scrambling before classes begin this fall.
“I have to rethink my plans for further education and what I want to do in terms of my master’s degree and things like that just because those fallback plans have disintegrated,” said Durelle.
Durelle said NB-EI Connect allowed students to focus on their post-secondary education without worrying about their finances or having to dedicate more time than they have to work a part-time job. She said students relied on the program to help them pay for rent, textbooks and even tuition.
“The majority of those impacted are nursing and education students, who have to do full-time, unpaid preceptorships, so that was really impacting those students,” said Durelle.
Duncan Murray, a biology and psychology student at the University of Prince Edward Island, believes he can “get by” without the program, but it may involve dropping a course.
“I think what really got me was just the fact that it was cut so soon to the beginning of the school year,” he said.
“So I know a lot of people are scrambling to figure out what they’re going to do now – that’s what’s frustrating.”
The paid said student organizations are asking the government to give students fair treatment and consult with student organizations on decisions that will impact them directly.
“If the federal government cut a huge provincial funding program for the province with no warning, I don’t think the province would be happy with that,” said Durelle.
“We’re asking for that same consultation and forethought that applies to other public policy decisions.”
