St. FX University’s Brian Mulroney Institute of Government will be launching an inaugural conference on economic growth in Atlantic Canada in the spring of next year. Central Nova MP
Sean Fraser says the idea for this forum is something he’s been working on for several years, but in particular during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Fraser says as the government was rolling out emergency benefit programs to ensure households and businesses would make it through the pandemic, he didn’t want to lose sight of the need to foster economic growth as the region emerges from it.
Fraser says he pitched the idea to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, believing the Mulroney Institute of Government would the ideal host for the conference. The two put together a proposal and brought the university in for a funding application to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Fraser says ACOA agreed to provide $200,000 to plan and organize the forum.
Fraser says the forum will provide an opportunity not only to discuss policy that will spur economic growth, but also to connect investors to companies that will put people to work in the short and long term. No date has been set for the forum, but Fraser expects it to be held after the upcoming academic year has concluded