(Brantford)  July 14, 2009 – Brant MP Phil McColeman played host to a delegation of his colleagues from the Conservative Post Secondary Education Caucus today.  The group was in town for the first leg of a tour of regional Colleges and Universities.

Delegates were treated to a tour of the downtown Brantford facilities of Laurier and Nipissing University including the Carnegie building, Odeon building and the new Laurier Research and Academic Centre that is currently under construction.  Following the tour delegates attended a roundtable with representatives from Laurier, Nipissing and Mohawk College.

“It was an honour to have so many of my colleagues in attendance for today’s tour and roundtable,” said McColeman.  “If you want to know what kind of a positive impact post secondary education can have on a local economy and a community Brantford is the place to start.”

The Conservative Post Secondary Education Caucus was organized by Conservative Party MPs to discuss how the government and MPs can best serve post-secondary institutions.  McColeman, a former governor of Laurier University serves as Vice-Chair.

The Conservative government has taken significant steps to support students and universities.  Most recently, Canada’s Economic Action Plan invested $2 billion to support repairs, maintenance and construction at colleges and universities across Canada. The funding was intended to enhance the research capacity of our universities, enable them to attract students and help them provide a better educational experience.

As a result of the budgeted investment, Laurier Brantford received $26 million in joint federal and provincial funding to construct the new Research and Academic Centre.

It is expected that the facility will enable the Brantford campus to grow to 4,000 students by 2012 from the present 2,200 students. It will provide state-of-the-art research and teaching space, as well as library facilities and administrative areas for several campus programs.

“The Government of Canada’s investment in Laurier Brantford is providing a significant economic stimulus to this community, it’s creating jobs in this community, and by allowing the campus to grow Laurier will continue to positively impact our local economy for years to come” said McColeman.