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The 1999 Speech from the Throne:
An Infrastructure of Skills, Innovation and Research
October 12, 1999
In the new economy, knowledge and technological innovation are the cornerstones of a higher standard of living and a better quality of life. Research and development are the lifeblood of innovation.
And a highly skilled workforce is essential to quickly harnessing new technologies - a workforce which - in the context of rapid technological change - must have both the commitment and opportunity to pursue lifelong learning.
Our government has set the ambitious goal of working with partners across Canada to build an infrastructure of skills development, innovation and research that will be second to none.
One in which:
Canadians have ready access to education and to the tools and information they need to develop skills that are in demand;
we develop a new generation of leaders in advanced research, attract the best researchers from around the world, and encourage our graduates to put their talents to work here at home; and,
connecting Canadians to the Information Highway and accelerating the adoption of electronic commerce.
A Record of Achievement
We have created the Canadian Opportunities Strategy a comprehensive plan to provide Canadians with greater, more affordable access to education and skills.
We have announced the Canada Millennium Scholarship Fund: a $2.5 billion endowment that - in January 2000 - will begin generating over 100,000 scholarships each year for low- and middle-income post-secondary students.
We created the Canada Education Savings Grant, which now provides a grant of 20% on the first $2,000 of annual contributions to Registered Education Savings Plans.
SchoolNet, has connected every public school and library in Canada to the Internet - the first nation in the world to accomplish this.
We created the Canada Foundation for Innovation -whose $1 billion endowment is helping to build a leading-edge national system of innovation.
We have increased funding for the advanced research granting councils.
We are investing more than $500 million over three years to create the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - which will foster state of the art health research across regions and disciplines.
The Networks of Centres of Excellence is linking researchers across the country to help develop new science and technology.
The Technology Partnerships Canada investment fund is providing up to $250 million a year to partner with business and keep the development, marketing and production of new technology in Canada, creating good jobs for Canadians.
Through our Connecting Canadians strategy we have made great strides toward reaching our goal of making Canada the most connected nation in the world.
SchoolNet, has connected every public school and library in Canada to the Internet - the first nation in the world to accomplish this;
The Community Access Program will have public Internet sites connected in 10,000 rural and urban sites by the year 2000;
Computers for Schools, which is closing in on its goal of providing 250,000 computers for Canadian schools by the year 2000 is 60 percent complete.
And we have the fastest Internet backbone network in the world CA*NET3
1999 SFT Commitments
On education and skills development, we will work with partners to:
reach agreement with provincial and territorial governments by December 2000 in a manner consistent with the Social Union Framework on an action plan setting out common principles, objectives and a funding framework for all governments to increase their resources dedicated to post-secondary education.
ensure that skills development keeps pace with the evolving economy. This work will be led by Sectoral Councils in close consultation with industry leaders;
make it easier for Canadians to finance life-long learning; and,
provide a unified source of information about labour markets, skills requirements and training opportunities across the country. It will merge the current multitude of databases into a single access point accessible via the Internet, over the telephone, or in person in communities across the country.
On research and innovation, we will:
increase our support to the Granting Councils, enabling them to forge new partnerships with our universities to attract the best research minds in the world through an innovative program of
21st Century Chairs for Research Excellence;
table legislation to create the Canadian Institutes of Health Research;
foster greater international research collaboration by Canadian universities and research institutes and expand Canadian scientific expertise in areas of great promise such as genomics, climate change, and advanced engineering; and
improve the commercialization of research from universities and government research centres.
On the information highway we will:
take steps to make Canada a centre of excellence for electronic commerce by encouraging its use throughout the Canadian economy;
re-introduce legislation to protect personal and business information in the digital world and to recognize electronic signatures; and
build on SchoolNet's success by encouraging the growth of multimedia learning in Canadian schools, through increased high-speed Internet access and greater production of digital learning content and applications in Canada.
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