Speaking Points

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, PC, MP
Minister of State (Science and Technology)

Government of Canada Funding Announcement
Modernizing Federal Laboratories
NRC Facilities

Ottawa, Ontario
May 8, 2009

Check Against Delivery

Thank you.

I am very pleased to be here at National Research Council Canada (NRC) today to make an important announcement.

As you know, we are facing tough times in the global economy. Our government is acting to help Canadians in these difficult times.

Budget 2009 — Canada's Economic Action Plan is a bold multi-year approach designed to stimulate the economy and protect our country during the current global recession.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and our government are fully committed to building a competitive advantage for Canada based on excellence in science and technology (S&T). This is why the Prime Minister launched the S&T Strategy two years ago. We also believe that investing in S&T is crucial to developing highly skilled workers and improving the long-term competitiveness of Canadian firms. That is why Canada's Economic Action Plan outlines an additional S&T investment of $5.1 billion. This represents one of the single largest federal budget investments in S&T to date.

Our Economic Action Plan takes immediate action to build infrastructure, stimulate housing and support businesses and communities in every region of the country. It will also help generate the advanced technological infrastructure needed to keep Canada's research and educational facilities at the forefront of scientific advancement.

As you are aware, our government will provide $2 billion over the next two years for deferred maintenance at Canadian universities and advanced skills training facilities at community colleges.

The part of the plan that I am here to speak to you about today is our commitment to an accelerated investment program to provide $250 million over the next two years to address deferred maintenance at federal laboratories across the country.

This investment program will have a positive impact not only right here in Ottawa, but across the country.

Today, I am announcing that $19 million of our economic stimulus funding will be spent on renovating 28 NRC facilities in seven provinces over the next two years.

The facilities are:

• NRC Institute for National Measurement Standards — $4 million
• NRC Institute for Aerospace Research — $3.7 million
• Newfoundland and Labrador: NRC Institute for Ocean Technology — $379 000
• Nova Scotia: NRC Institute for Marine Biosciences — $36 000
• Quebec: NRC Biotechnology Research Institute — $1.315 million and NRC Industrial Materials Institute — $1.73 million
• Ontario (excluding the National Capital Region): NRC Institute for Research in Construction — $351 000
• Manitoba: NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics — $362 000
• Saskatchewan: NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute — $1.189 million
• British Columbia: NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (Penticton) — $177 000; and NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (Victoria) — $281 000
• And 16 other NRC buildings right here in Ottawa — $5.54 million

The activities carried out in these labs range from research and development in the fields of aerospace and astronomy, to the life sciences, to the construction sector.

And these investments will support NRC in its long history of commercializing technologies — bringing the innovations developed in these research labs to the marketplace.

We are here in front of one of the NRC facilities that will benefit from the new funding announced today — the NRC Institute for Aerospace Research, Canada's national aerospace laboratory. This research and development facility is active in the development of the next generation of jet engines — that will be cleaner, lighter and quieter.

The work done here and throughout NRC on behalf of Canadians is extraordinary. And I want to congratulate this lab on being selected for modernization.

The upgrades to these working environments will make all the important work that goes on here that much easier in the future.

Economically, these investments will provide benefits to the community in the near term and will help create the facilities that will drive Canada's future prosperity and quality of life.

Over the next two years, construction work and the sourcing of equipment and materials will create local jobs and boost local businesses.

Workers will be hired to address maintenance issues ranging from the replacement of roofs, ventilation systems and boilers, to updating electrical systems.

But the benefits won't stop there. They will reach beyond Ottawa and across the country.

These labs are links in a chain of about 200 federal government science and research facilities in Canada, and they will make significant contributions to national science, as well as to their local areas.

The work done here and in the other labs supports the government's core responsibilities in protecting the health and safety of Canadians and contributes to Canada's future competitiveness and growth.

Nationwide, their activities include research, testing and regulatory services in fields such as health, safety, security, the economy, transportation, environmental protection, heritage and culture.

With this investment, the government is acting locally, while improving our national capacity in S&T.

In short, Canada's Economic Action Plan means more jobs and support for science — not only in Ottawa, but across the country.

It means providing jobs and incomes today, while investing in a better future for all Canadians.

Thank you.