Student demonstrators disrupt Cathy Bennett speech in Corner Brook

Finance MinisterCathy Bennett was met with student protesters this morning whilespeaking to the Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade.

• Full coverage: Newfoundland and LabradorBudget2016

Bennett took the high road, shaking the students' hands and continuing tothe podium to address the crowd.

Bennett used the speech, her second since April 14,to promote thebudget, and talked about moneyfor infrastructure, jobs and the Corner Brookhospital.

Budget cuts are an 'injustice'

The students are protesting thecuts to the needs-based grants program and the reinstatement ofprovincial student loans.

"Budgets are about choices, and this government has made the choice to ignore the youth and people of Newfoundland and Labrador and instead prioritize the interests of the wealthy," Sara Langer, vice-president of the Grenfell Campus Student Union, said in a statement.

"Cuts to the needs-based grants program will impact our most vulnerable students. We will not stay silent in the face of this injustice."

Langer said the government's changes will mean some students could incuras much as $6,700 in additional student debt over a four-year program, adding that the Liberal government has ignored students' concerns.

"As someone who has worked multiple part-time jobs while still taking on massive debt, I know first-hand the impact that these cuts to the grants program will have," studentGary Savoury said in a student unionstatement.

"I want to stay in this province after graduation and raise a family here, but as my student debt continues to rise, I become more and more worried about finding a decent job right away in order to pay down that debt, even if that job takes me outside of Newfoundland and Labrador."

Tough decisions

The finance minister said that the Liberal government had to make some tough decisions that not everyone will agree with.

"It's difficult to hear the impact of these decisions on the province and we are always going to be respectful to those individuals that want to share with us their opinions, especially those who are passionate and may have a contrary opinion to ours," she said.

Bennett also tried to put the budget measures in perspective.

"The fact is the tax increases in conjunction with the deficit levy are no higher on every single category than they were in 2006," she said.

"We have implemented the Newfoundland income supplement to offset the impact for low income seniors, individuals, peoples with disabilitiesand that's the facts we are going to get out to the people of the province."