President Pannekoek, Staff and Students, Ladies and Gentlemen.

• Thank you for joining me here today for this exciting series of announcements, which brings the our total investment in Athabasca University – along with our partners – to 17 million in the last 3 months!
  
  
• Education is one of our most valuable and profitable resources here in Northern Alberta, and because of that, I am very proud to be here today on behalf of the Government of Canada to announce 3 major funding investments towards the growth and enhancement of Athabasca University.
  
  
• Our government is working hard, together with our provincial partners, to build and sustain the Knowledge Infrastructure of our country, in order to invest in our best commodity, our people; in order to educate and prepare tomorrow’s workforce, and ensure a strong, innovative and economically competitive future for Canada.
  
  
• We have recently been experiencing challenging economic times - In both Canada and the U.S., infrastructure investment has been identified as key to short term economic stimulus.
  
  
• To protect and stimulate our economic well-being, the government announced $12 billion in additional infrastructure spending in this years’ Economic Action Plan. This included $2 billion over two years to support Albertans and the enhancement of our existing Knowledge Infrastructure.
  
  
• This Knowledge Infrastructure Program stimulus funding, in addition to generous funding from the department of Canadian Heritage, is going to kick-start an impressive range of campus improvements here at Athabasca U;
  
  
• These range from major upgrades to main campus and laboratory buildings; to the expansion of media services on campus, by providing up to 20 additional multicultural newspapers online; to building the foundations for an extensive expansion of IT infrastructure, to benefit countless future distance learners.
  
  
• So, today I’m very pleased to announce $7.6 million dollars in additional knowledge infrastructure funding for Athabasca University’s IT infrastructure. I am particularly proud to acknowledge that with this investment AU will have the opportunity to begin to establish its place at the forefront of distance education in North America.
  
  
• And that’s only the beginning. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of last month’s announcement of $405,000 from Canadian Heritage to digitize and deploy to the web many new multicultural newspapers, on an open access basis. This project will increase multiculturalism on campus, and provide students with many additional opportunities and resources, to become the best educated world citizens.
  
  
• In addition, only 2 months ago, our government announced another $8.4 million in funding through the Knowledge Infrastructure program to the University of Athabasca; the results of which are that students and staff will soon enjoy widespread improvements to buildings and facilities throughout campus.
  
  
• These targeted investments will improve the quality of the services provided by Athabasca University, by providing federal support for maintenance, repair and expansion projects on much-needed infrastructure, that have been deferred for too long. These important projects will ultimately create a more sustainable economy over the longer term.
  
  
• I am also very pleased that in this economic climate, this funding will also provide a much needed economic boost to the Athabasca region, by creating numerous jobs, and stimulating the local economy. 
  
  
• Our institutions of higher education are at the heart of Northern Alberta’s success, expertise, innovation, security, and future prosperity; which is the envy of many others in Canada, and the world.
  
  
• I look forward to working in partnership with the province - who are great partners, and work well with us towards our common goals – as well as with President Pannekoek and Athabasca University, to ensure that it remains strong and successful, and that we can always be proud to have world-class students, faculty, and programs in our very own community. Thank you.