Will health spending squeeze out higher education?

The Conservative’s pledge to continue increasing health care funding at 6 per cent per year provides "an ideal shield for cuts everywhere else," political commentator Chantal Hébert told a crowd of educators and university fundraisers at the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education conference in Quebec City on Monday. "Education is not far from the top of the list of potential casualties," she said, explaining that the federal government "sees education mostly as a provincial affair." In Monday’s budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he would cut $4-billion over the next four years by trimming 5 per cent from the administration costs in Ottawa. The opposition New Democrats questioned whether it’s possible to find the money by cutting administration alone.