The FEUQ Meets Jack Layton on the New Canada Student Grants Program.

MONTREAL, Sept. 24 /CNW Telbec/ - This week, the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) met the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Mr. Jack Layton. The discussions touched upon the implementation of the new Canada Student Grants Program (CSGP) and federal transfers to social programs. "It was a very cordial meeting. We had an attentive ear from Mr. Layton and the basis for agreement was quite significant," commented Jean Grégoire, president of the FEUQ.

With regard to the CSGP, the two organizations agreed on the right of Quebec to withdraw from the Conservative program with full compensation. "It is very important that Quebec recovers the amounts from the new Conservative program to maintain the lowest maximum loan limit and thus reduce student indebtedness," said Mr. Grégoire. In fact, according to the calculations of the FEUQ, it is more than $100 million from the federal program that would return to the Quebec Student Financial Assistance Program.

The meeting closed on the importance of adequately financing education for Canadian society and reestablishing federal transfers for social programs. "Governments must stop seeing education as an expenditure. It is an investment for the very future of Quebec and Canada," concluded Mr. Grégoire.

For more than 20 years, the FEUQ has been representing Quebec university students. With 16 member associations and 125,000 members, the FEUQ is the largest youth group in Quebec. www.feuq.qc.ca

For further information: Mathieu Le Blanc, FEUQ press attaché, office: [phone], Cell: [phone]