Speeches and Messages
Speech during the official SITE Opening
OTTAWA, September 12, 2002 — Good morning.Minister Cunningham, Minister Coburn, Madame Boyer, distingués invités, chers collègues, mesdames, messieurs.
Le président du Bureau des gouverneurs, M. Richard Bertrand, se joint à moi pour vous souhaiter à toutes et à tous la plus cordiale bienvenue à l'Université d'Ottawa pour célébrer l'ouverture de l'ÉITI.
I want to extend an especially warm welcome to Minister Cunningham. Madam Minister we are delighted to see you once again on our campus. From the beginning of your mandate as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, you have been an enthusiastic and faithful supporter of Ontario universities in general, and of the University of Ottawa, in particular. It is therefore a great privilege to share with you our pride and joy on this memorable day.
As we all know, a university thrives above all because of the bright, creative and passionate minds that make up its constituency. The presence of an interacting community of scholars is fundamental to the process of discovery, and it is an essential means of learning. These scholars need to share and exchange in a common space where they will produce new knowledge, make new discoveries and shape the leading minds of tomorrow.
This is why we need buildings. Physical space plays a critical role in the establishment of a meaningful and effective university community. The SITE building, which we are inaugurating today, illustrates perfectly this point. We are, of course, very proud of this wonderfully designed facility, which is so stunning to the eye. Indeed, the building provides an exterior image that is timeless and that enhances impressively the architectural character of our campus. It will be a true southern gateway to the campus, just as Tabaret Hall and our Arts building are gateposts to the north end of the campus. Not surprisingly, the Ottawa Citizen has already called this building one of the two great buildings of the last decade in the region.
But this building is also meant to fulfill another critical role: not only will it become the long-awaited "home" to vital sectors of academic activity at the University of Ottawa; at the same time, it is designed in a such a way that it will foster dialogue and collaboration amongst scholars, and between students; it also provides an interior that reflects technology, is student-centered, supports the fusion of uses and offers environments for team work.
Madame la ministre, l'UdeO a au cours des dernières années, investi considérablement dans ses programmes en technologies de l'information. Ces programmes constituent un élément-clef de notre plan stratégique … en effet, les technologies de l'information, telles que nous les définissons, débordent du cadre strictement technique et se retrouvent dans nos trois autres axes prioritaires de développement, soit la santé, les sciences moléculaires et même les défis sociaux culturels du Canada.
This commitment to Information Technology has already been rewarded in several ways. Research activities have grown at an impressive rate, and have contributed greatly to the University of Ottawa's 2nd place ranking in private-sector research funding, as well as our 6th ranking in overall research funding in Canada. Academic programs and enrolment have grown at similar rates, thus sparking the need for this impressive building.
We are particularly appreciative of the support your government provided through the Access to Opportunities program - ATOP, which it launched in 1998. ATOP was designed to double the number of engineers and computer scientists in high demand field. This new program fostered a highly successful collaboration and partnership between government, industry, and academic institutions.The support that we received (as a region) under the ATOP program was simply phenomenal: local technology companies contributed more than $55M, almost doubling the original ATOP objective of $28 M. Of that amount the University of Ottawa raised close to $25M in cash, equipment and software, resulting in a cash contribution of $10M from the Ontario Government under the ATOP program.
I am particularly grateful to the City of Ottawa and to OCRI - the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation - for the leadership role they played in bringing together industry partners and all four post-secondary academic institutions.
I also want to acknowledge the support we have received from the Ontario government's SuperBuild program. In addition to ATOP and SuperBuild, the Government of Ontario also contributed to the construction cost of this building through the Ontario Innovation Trust program, in support of our research infrastructure needs.
Madame la Ministre, ces programmes novateurs d'appui aux universités, que le gouvernement de l'Ontario a mis sur pied depuis 1998, nous ont permis d'attirer et de retenir à l'Université d'Ottawa, des professeurs de réputation nationale et internationale. Ils nous ont permis d'accroître la qualité de nos programmes de formation et d'enseignement. Le savoir, plus que jamais, est devenu le principal moteur du développement économique. Les multiples activités d'enseignement et de recherche qui se dérouleront dans le superbe édifice de l'ÉITI auront des retombées économiques majeures sur la ville d'Ottawa, sur notre région et sur l'économie ontarienne et canadienne. L'ÉTI aura aussi une fenêtre sur le monde, en recrutant des chercheurs et des étudiants et étudiantes à travers le monde.
If we are to meet the needs and challenges of the knowledge-based economy, it is critical that we continue to increase the number of engineering graduates. Canada continues to trail OECD countries when it comes to the number of engineers and scientists that we graduate. Some even argue that the growth in GDP correlates directly with the ratio of engineering graduates.
Aujourd'hui, j'aimerais également, au nom des professeurs, des étudiantes et étudiants et du personnel de soutien de l'ÉTI, et au nom de l'Université d'Ottawa, remercier sincèrement chacun de nos nombreux partenaires industriels. Votre appui a permis la construction de ce superbe édifice. J'aimerais souligner en particulier la très généreuse contribution de 5,5 millions de Nortel Networks, en vue de la création du programme de bourses d'admission Nortel Networks à l'Université d'Ottawa.
Our focus on IT research and education has led to dozens of private-sector partnerships. In particular, I would like to recognize the contributions of Professor Nicolas Georganas, DUP in SITE, and of many of his colleagues for the success they have had in securing major research funding for this building including infrastruture support from the Ontario Innovation Trust that I referred to earlier.
Madame Minister, I believe that as we tour the building, you will see that the government's investment has been spent wisely, and that it will bring further dividends to the region, the province, and the country by virtue of its highly-skilled graduates, its innovative research, and its economic spin-offs.
Congratulations to the architect Ron Keenberg and his team at IKOY, to the staff from our Physical Resources Services, and the dedicated and talented workers of Daoust Construction and the many subcontractors who built this wonderful building.
It is a magnificent achievement for our university, for our City, and for our province - one that we should all be proud of.
Thank you.