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It was a packed house in Dalhousie鈥檚 Rowe Building Monday afternoon as students, community members and others filled the seats to hear from and speak with Canada鈥檚 minister of finance.

The Honourable Bill Morneau was on campus for a one-hour event as part of the government鈥檚 nationwide pre-budget consultations. Throughout January, the minister is leading a series of events across the country, soliciting feedback and ideas from Canadians for the 2016 federal budget.

鈥淚鈥檓 here, really, to listen to you,鈥� said Morneau. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to get a sense from Canadians about what priorities we can reflect in our budget.鈥�

The event was one of two such consultations to be broadcast live on Facebook, with questions both from those in the room and online. The second Facebook event will be held on Friday, January 15 from the University of Calgary.

Monday鈥檚 event was moderated by Andy Fillmore, member of parliament for Halifax and Dal alumnus (BEDS鈥�90, MURP鈥�92). Several other Nova Scotian members of parliament were also in attendance, including Treasury Board President Scott Brison (BComm鈥�89).

The finance minister fielded questions and comments on a wide variety of topics including corporate tax rates, CPP contributions, access to postsecondary education, the housing market and defence spending. A common theme to the minister鈥檚 remarks was the need to prioritize investments that enable economic growth.

鈥淥ur job is to grow the economy, to create the next jobs for the people in this room,鈥� said Morneau. 鈥淎nd we believe this will come from investments that will grow the economy.鈥�

Learn how you can contribute to the pre-budget consultations at .