Prime Minister Harper announces funding for the David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute in Hamilton

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Thank you very much. Thank you for that warm welcome everybody, and thank you, David Sweet, for the kind introduction. As the Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, David was instrumental in helping bring 120 high-tech jobs to the city through the CANMET Lab move and he also helped secure funding here for the long overdue Randall Reef cleanup. So you should all give David a hand for the good work he does for this region.

Thanks to Murray Martin and your colleagues for hosting us here today. Greetings to Dr. Phillipson, President and CEO of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and of course to all the other medical professionals and dignitaries, to the mayor and to the President of the University; my brother is an alumnus at McMaster. Also greetings, of course, to Industry Minister Prentice, without whose hard work today's announcement would not have been possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, one of the most important medical research breakthroughs in world history occurred right here, in southern Ontario, 87 years ago this summer. I'm referring, of course, to the discovery of insulin, by Frederick Banting and Charles Best. Their work would ultimately save more lives than were lost in both world wars, and it would vault Canada to the forefront of international health research.

To this day, Canadian practitioners and researchers are world leaders in a wide array of health sciences. Indeed, in the study and treatment of disease, it can be rightly said that Canada is a major player on the world stage. Our success in medical research is a reflection of our values as a society. Canadians are proud of our system of universal public healthcare insurance. And we have the strong humanitarian impulse that compels us to share our knowledge and resources with others.

In keeping with these values and in the tradition of medical excellence they have inspired, our Government has made health research one of the top priorities of our national science and technology strategy. Applied medical research saves lives and improves quality of life for Canadians and our fellow human beings around the world. It also creates opportunities and jobs for Canadians in the international healthcare industry. And it attracts some of the best scientific minds on the planet to our research facilities across this country.

That's why I'm very pleased to announce today that our Government, through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, is partnering with Hamilton Health Sciences to build the David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute.

This new facility will bring together over 500 research personnel and support staff and create 230 new positions, not to mention countless opportunities for health service companies in the region.

Through clinical and population studies, the Institute will learn more about the causes of heart attacks and strokes and how to manage the risk factors. It will help ensure that Hamiltonians, Ontarians and indeed all Canadians have access to state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment for heart disease, the number-one killer in Canada. And it will cement Hamilton's reputation as a global centre of excellence in cardiac, vascular and stroke research.

This project is the result of the local community, health industry professionals, private charitable foundations, and government working together for the common good. I would especially like to pay tribute to David Braley, the Hamilton businessman, sports entrepreneur and philanthropist, for his generous contribution to the Institute. David is a model of a good Canadian corporate citizen and a community builder in every sense of the word.

He once told a reporter, let me quote this: "The money I make belongs to my community and my employees. I have to make sure I reinvest that capital for their benefit in education, medicine, a sports team, whatever. That's what it's all about."

So thank you very much, David.

When completed, the Institute will provide superior research, superior treatment and superior healthcare service, not just here in the Hamilton-Niagara region, but to all of Canada. It will attract the world's best and brightest heart and stroke researchers to our country and it will help develop new treatments and cures that will save lives at home and abroad.

Ladies and gentlemen, someone dies of heart disease in Canada every seven minutes. Heart disease touches the lives of virtually every Canadian family. Just as the research of Banting and Best saved and improved the lives of millions afflicted by diabetes, the research of the new Institute will save and improve the lives of future generations. And it will help us ensure that we are investing in cutting-edge research and in the cures of tomorrow, and ensuring, of course, a strong and healthier Canada that we all deserve.

Thank you very much.

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