Bob Dechert, Member of Parliament

Good Afternoon, your worship Mayor McCallion, Minister Takhar, Dr. Saini, distinguished guests, and friends. Thank you for your warm introduction. It’s a pleasure to be here today.

I am also pleased to be here as an alumnus of the University of Toronto.  The years that I spent at the faculty of law were amongst the most memorable of my life and opened opportunities for me that I could scarcely have dreamed of before entering this great university as a student.

I would also like to thank all of the faculty, students and staff of the University of Toronto Mississauga for their warm hospitality. UTM is a globally recognized centre for higher learning and plays a vital role in the prosperity and quality of life in Mississauga and Canada. The project we’re here to celebrate today, the opening of this landmark Instructional Centre will help to ensure that this role can continue and expand.

The economy remains the top priority of our Government. With Canada’s economic recovery still fragile and recent uncertainty in the US and European economies, we are focused on creating jobs and economic growth for Canadians. Two years ago, as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, Prime Minister Harper and our Government announced more than $2 billion in investments in Canada’s  colleges, universities and CEGEPs through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program. This program is an economic stimulus plan that is helping to renew, modernize and improve facilities at campuses across the country.

As you know, through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, and together with funding from the Government of Ontario, $70 million was allocated to the construction of this state of the art educational facility. As Canada begins to emerge from the global recession, investments in state-of-the-art research labs, libraries and learning centres are essential to creating and securing valuable, skilled jobs, both now and in the future. This Instructional Centre has resulted in jobs for engineers, architects, construction workers and many others when they were needed most.

I’m proud to say that investments under the program have created and maintained jobs across Canada and made a difference to many Canadians and their families. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the entire design and construction team for their incredible efforts to plan, design and construct this impressive building within the very tight time frame specified under the Government’s funding program. I know that there were many early mornings, late nights and long days dedicated by everyone – from the University administration staff to the skilled craftsmen involved in creating this landmark.

I would also like to thank Mayor McCallion and her city staff for ensuring that all necessary permits and approvals for this building were provided in record time. I know that everyone of you put a little extra into this project because of your belief in the importance of this institution to our community. Investments such as this building are also making a difference for the future of our nation.

When I stand here, I am excited by thoughts of the prospects of the thousands of eager minds that will be trained by UTM’s inspirational faculty members over the next 25 years, in this space. Those students will come from Mississauga, across Canada and around the world. Many will make scientific discoveries, create new technologies, develop new solutions to societal problems and create new business and economic opportunities for our nation and the world.

That is exactly the reason why we introduced the Economic Action Plan: to create jobs today and help grow our economy well into the future. As you know, we are now focused on the next phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. Modernizing and improving research and training facilities at Canada’s university and college campuses will help us build the foundation for future growth.

It will help us to protect and create more jobs for Canadians, and ensure that we are positioned for future economic prosperity. We are ensuring that Canada’s universities and colleges can continue to train the highly skilled researchers and workers of the future, for the benefit of all Canadians. In addition, our government is further building Canada’s knowledge economy through the Economic Action Plan. We have injected an additional $6.3 billion into the economy through investments in science, technology and innovation.

Our government is working to ensure that the world’s best science and innovation opportunities—as well as the world’s best researchers—are right here on Canadian soil. Congratulations, once again, to everyone here at UTM on the successful completion of this new Instructional Centre. Thank you.