| MPP
Arnott asks Minister About Investments In the New Economy
Waterloo-Wellington
MPP Ted Arnott raised a question in the Ontario Legislature
on November 27, 2002 about investments in innovation.
The following is the Hansard record of his question
to the Associate Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity
and Innovation, David Turnbull:
Mr
Arnott: My question is for the Associate Minister of
Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation. Minister, our
government recognized long ago that innovation is the
driving force in our new economy. We were all pleased
and appreciative, therefore, when the minister announced
$22.8 million for research and development programs
recently at the University of Guelph. This funding will
not only provide critical innovation infrastructure
but also help to put Guelph and our area on the map
as important players within Ontario's innovation strategy.
Will
the minister inform the House about some of the other
initiatives our government is undertaking to promote
innovation in the province of Ontario?
Hon
David Turnbull (Associate Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity
and Innovation): I thank the member for Waterloo-Wellington
for this important question. The Ontario Innovation
Trust announcement at the University of Guelph last
week was just part of our government's drive to create
a culture of innovation.
Our
government has invested in a very wide range of initiatives:
$750 million in the Ontario research and development
challenge fund, $1 billion in the Ontario Innovation
Trust and $32 million in the Ontario research performance
fund. Just last June, we announced a $51-million biotech
strategy, and our goal is to make Ontario one of the
three main biotech centres in North America.
The
Premier's research excellence awards have a total commitment
of $85 million.
The
Speaker: The associate minister's time is up.
Mr
Arnott: Our province has certainly led the way in terms
of taking initiatives to support science, technology
and innovation. I know an important component of our
government's innovation strategy lies in our centres
of excellence. As the members of the House know, we
recently announced the creation of two new centres of
excellence for electricity and alternative fuels. With
our focus on these hubs of innovation, will the minister
elaborate on the role of centres of excellence as part
of our overall innovation strategy?
Hon
Mr Turnbull: The centres of excellence program helps
us to strengthen the R&D links between industry
and academia and it helps to accelerate the process
between the lab bench and the marketplace.
We
have four existing centres: Communications and Information
Technology Ontario, the Centre for Research in Earth
and Space Technology, Materials and Manufacturing Ontario,
and Photonics Research Ontario. In 2002, we made a budget
commitment of $161 million over the next five years
to support these centres. In addition to this, we're
adding two new centres: the Centre of Excellence for
Alternative Fuels and the Centre of Excellence for Electricity.
This is all part of our government's priority of promoting
innovation in this province.
Our
government has invested a record amount of $3.2 billion
since we became the government.
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