It was back to school for Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tuesday who paid a visit to Deep Cove’s Seycove secondary.
Though the purpose of the visit was to announce the expansion of a grant program for low- and middle-income post-secondary students, much of the speechifying was election-year stumping.
Harper, who was joined by Industry Minister James Moore and North Vancouver MP Andrew Saxton, focused on the message that his government has been a stoic shepherd for the vulnerable economy. He also took some digs at the Opposition leaders, and promised a balanced budget on April 21.
Under the Canada Student Grants program, students can get up to $250 per month while they are enrolled full-time in a post-secondary program of 60 weeks or more.
The expansion announced Tuesday changes the eligibility so students taking courses of 34 weeks can apply for up to $125 per month. The program is expected to cost an extra $184 million over four years and open the grants to another 42,000 Canadians.
Diana Wilson, a North Shore mother of three who is now in the educational assistance program at Langara College, took part in the event to praise the program’s expansion.
“I was working at various part-time jobs and I wanted something more consistent and reliable. I never thought I’d be going back to school after 25 years but it’s been a wonderful experience,” she said. “I’m glad to hear your support for helping students like me to get the training they need for today’s jobs. With the support, transition to a new job should be much easier.”
The national media in attendance, however, were far more interested in the prime minister’s thoughts on the trial of the suspended senator he appointed, Mike Duffy, which had just begun that morning in Ottawa.
Harper was asked if he was worried whether he’d be called to testify or whether any of the 12 Tory insiders who knew about the $90,000 payment from Nigel Wright to Duffy would implicate him.
“The answer, of course, is no. Investigators looked at this and affirmed what I said. I have no knowledge of these things. I will not be called as a witness,” he said. “We have offered the Crown every possible assistance in their case against Mr. Duffy. We’ll continue to do so. Beyond that, this matter is before the courts and I’m not going to comment on the specifics of the proceedings.”
Outside the high school, various groups of protestors including Tsleil-Waututh First Nation and North Shore NOPE, gathered to demonstrate against Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline application now before the National Energy Board.
Seycove secondary is in the newly created riding of Burnaby North-Seymour, which is expected to be friendly territory for the Conservatives. But it might not be such an easy get for the Tories given the number of Deep Cove residents who find the party unresponsive to the “totally unacceptable” environmental and economic risks posed by the pipeline project, said Janice Edmonds, North Shore NOPE founder.
“When we talked to our Conservative candidate in this area, we asked him about climate change. He said that the Conservatives don’t even talk about climate change. It is one of the most important issues,” she said. “Look at what’s happening in California right now. They don’t even have water. We have to deal with climate change. We have a National Energy Board that won’t even discuss climate change as part of their review process.”
