Thank you very much and good evening.

Let me start by thanking the CEA for inviting me to such a special event.

It’s always an honour to represent the Government of Canada, and certainly a pleasure to bring best wishes from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, from the Honourable John Baird, our Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, and from the Government of Canada. 

I’m sure it won’t come as news to anyone here that we’re going through a period of pretty dramatic change — here in Canada, and right around the world. This recession has caused a lot of countries to take a good, hard look at the way they’ve been doing things — and they’ve had to make some pretty drastic changes.

There’s no question we’ve felt the impacts here in Canada and as a government, we had an obligation to respond — an obligation to protect Canadians from the worst impacts of the recession.

Luckily, we came into it in a stronger position than just about any other country — and that meant we had the financial flexibility to deliver a strong response. 

That response, our government’s Economic Action Plan, was designed to address the immediate impacts of the recession, and at the same time, strengthen the foundation for future growth.

With our Economic Action Plan, we have stepped a little harder on the accelerator, but we haven’t changed our basic approach to achieving long-term, sustainable prosperity: investing in infrastructure, investing in technology and innovation, investing in lower taxes for Canadians. 

And as you all know, these investments are achieving immediate results for Canadians, and are further strengthening our economic fundamentals for the future.  In the ten months since the release of the Economic Action Plan, our government has committed more that $9 billion dollars towards over 6,700 projects!

Thirty-two hundred of these are part of our $4 billion dollar Infrastructure Stimulus Plan and our partners tell us that construction is already underway on close to 1,400 of these. In fact, some 150 projects have already been completed.

John Beck, Chairman and CEO of AECON Group Inc. recently applauded the work that’s been accomplished. He said, and I quote:

”I’ve been in the business for 45 years. I’ve never seen as strong a pipeline of work as I’m seeing today.”1

We are getting the job done!

It’s also important to consider the steps we’ve taken to ensure Canada’s municipalities have the financial support they need to renew infrastructure.

Beyond the historic investments we’re making in municipal infrastructure through the Building Canada Fund, we also extended the Gas Tax Fund indefinitely.

This means $2 billion dollars a year in reliable, long-term funding to municipalities for infrastructure. And as you know, Canada’s municipal governments are showing real leadership when it comes to getting shovels in the ground and taking advantage of the investment opportunities of our Economic Action Plan.

And that’s what our government is all about.

We’re not in the energy business or the infrastructure business — we’re in the opportunity business and our Economic Action Plan is creating and capturing more innovative opportunities than ever before.

I know it’s not always easy to see opportunity these days.  That is why our priorities will not change as we head into the second and final phase of the Economic Action Plan.

We will continue to focus on the rapid and effective implementation of our Economic Action Plan to benefit communities, workers and businesses. We will continue to work with provinces, territories and communities to support strong, sustainable prosperity for the future.

At the same time, we’re already looking ahead to future challenges — including a return to a balanced budget once our economy is fully recovered.

Over the next few weeks, Prime Minister Harper, Minister Flaherty and the rest of the Conservative caucus will be meeting with and hearing from Canadian families, homeowners, workers, business-owners and industries from across the country about how best to meet our goals for Phase II of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

Our commitment to address the immediate impacts of the recession on Canadians has not changed.  Neither has our commitment to ensure the investments we make today will serve to benefit Canadians over the long term.

And the success of these investments is directly dependent on the hard work and knowledge of all the award-winners being honoured here today.

On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to thank you for your hard work and commend you for the insight, innovation and dedication that you bring to Canada.

I have full confidence that together, we can ensure Canada remains the best country in the world in which to live and emerges from this global recession sooner than elsewhere and stronger than ever.

Thank you very much.