Brief

Harper coy on education funding

PM met with Atlantic business leaders in advance of budget

Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Halifax on Jan. 19. Photo: Sydnee Bryant

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he plans to invest money in education to help stimulate the economy. But he won't say how much of a role university spending will have in the upcoming budget.

Harper met in Halifax with leaders representing businesses in the Maritimes on Monday to discuss the new national budget, which will be released Jan. 27.

"There is a general consensus -- a strong consensus -- that all governments need to spend, need to invest quickly and efficiently, and effectively, while at the same time avoiding a long-term, permanent deficit. We've heard that everywhere," Harper said.

The prime minister said that people, including business leaders, are encouraging him to "invest in long-term assets, hard assets like infrastructure but also what we call softer assets like human capital and education."

Harper did not say what kind of funding universities can expect from the upcoming budget.

One of the business leaders who attended the meeting said Harper didn't give any indication of what was in the budget for Atlantic Canada during the meeting.

However, Jean-Paul Deveau, president of Acadian Seaplants Limited, a company that produces food, fertilizer and consumer products made from seaweed, said he believed universities will continue to be a major part of the economy.

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