AMPUS NEWS _ oroesernvexv

THE VOICE, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02,2011 3

Canadians forced to stop borrowing?

Credit bureau report states debt has not newly increased, experts disagree on the causes

By EMMA CRAWFORD

anadian personal debt has been
stable over the past nine months
but that’s not necessarily a good
thing.

According to the latest quarterly
analysis issued by TransUnion, one of
the largest credit bureaus in North
America, the country’s debt hasn’t ris-
en in the past months despite almost
six years of consecutive increases.

Thomas Higgins, TransUnion’s vice
president of analytics said in the report
that “global economic uncertainty

surely played a part in Canadians’
move to further draw down their debt
load.”

Lanny Zrill, an economics instructor
at Langara College, disagrees that peo-
ple are purposely making the decision
to stop borrowing money.

“T tend not to favour the explanation
that people are using common sense,”
Zrill said.

He said a possible expanation is that
Canadians are simply maxed out.

“People have borrowed so much,
[that] they can no longer afford to take
on more debt,” Zrill said. They “have

literally borrowed to the point where
they are teetering on the edge.”

The report shows Canadians’ aver-
age consumer debt, that does not in-
clude mortgages, declined in the third
quarter of 2011, to around $26,000.

Zrill said it is “a bit confusing” that
debt levels should be stabilizing since
interest rates are currently very low,
which normally leads to people bor-
rowing more.

The Wall Street Journal stated in
June that Canadian household debt
had reached an all-time high.

Not unlike our neighbours to the

south Bloomberg.com reports a similar
drop in household debt for the U.S.,
saying the average level declined by 0.6
per cent in the third quarter. However,
it reported in July that household debt
was in “worse condition than at any
other point in history since the Great
Depression.”

Canadian debt levels vary widely by
province.

British Columbia has the highest av-
erage debt, at almost $37,000 per con-
sumer. This is more than twice the lev-
el in Quebec, with less than $19,000 per
consumer.

66

They can
no longer
afford to
take out
more debt

LANNY ZRILL,
Langara
economics
instructor

LSU's

Festival of Lights promotes green presents that also please Mother Earth

Ligh

a t
Nosed Reinde
with Mugur
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the LSU's Festival of |
yesterday.

JENNIFER FONG

By JEN ST. DENIS

financial aid office.

said Finley.

Students make cards out of
recycylable materials during
the LSU’s Festival of Lights

with less.”

Facts

specific items

yesterday.

JENNIFER FONG
photo

maid containers

Langara
Adopts a
Family

People in need receive
groceries for the holidays
thanks to the college’s help

are getting ready to do some of San-
ta’s legwork preparing Christmas
hampers for students in need.

The Adopt a Family program has
been running for over 10 years, accord-
ing to financial aid advisor Debra Fin-
ley. Financial aid organizes the pro-
gram, matching the families and
donors anonymously.

The office finds students in need
through their bursary program, the
Langara Daycare Centre, and just by
talking to students who drop into the

Lie faculty, staff and students

“Tt’s just us talking to the students
and then we find out what their stories
are and try and help them out,”

Last year 32 families received ham-
pers. Finley said the majority of the re-
cipients are single parents.

Financial aid gives donors a profile
of the family, including where they
shop for groceries, the ages and gen-
ders of the children in the family, and
what the children want for Christmas.

The photo-imaging department has
been adopting a family every year for
the past five or six years, said depart-
ment chair Catharine O’Brien-Bell.

“We get things like a gift card for
Save-on or Superstore so they can have
a really nice meal,” O’Brien-Bell said.
“We often put in things like candles
and napkins and some Christmas deco-
rations and things like that.”

The photo-imaging students thems-
leves also get involved.

“One year the students were so into
it they went to Walmart and basically
bought out the whole store,” said
O’Brien-Bell. “We don’t force the stu-
dents to help, I basically put it out
there, but I think it’s really good for
people to realize that no matter how
little we have there’s always someone

ADOPT A FAMILY

HE Most hampers are donated by the departments

HE Sometimes the fiancial aid office gets requests for

HM The hampers are decorated and given in Rubber-

Source: financial aid office