Common menu bar links
Bridge to Prosperity: PM Announces Major Upgrades to Busy Border Crossing
20 March 2009
Sarnia, ON
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERYThank you very much. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I want to first of all thank Pat Davidson for welcoming me here today. I also want to thank you, Pat, for your work on the House of Commons Health Committee, and also as our lead member on the Status of Women Committee for the House of Commons. Of course I know everyone here wants to thank you for the excellent work you're doing on behalf of Sarnia-Lambton. I want to greet our counterparts from other levels of government who are joining with us today. Welcome all of your worships, also representatives from the Blue Water Bridge Corporation as well. Both our Chairman and President I know are here today, so I appreciate that. I also understand the President of the Chamber of Commerce is with us today, Gary McDonald. Welcome, Gary.
Ladies and gentlemen, just seven weeks ago, our government brought forward one of the most important budgets in our history: Canada's Economic Action Plan. It is a plan that cuts red tape to unleash timely, temporary and targeted economic stimulus. Our Action Plan is designed to address both Canada's short-term needs and our long-term goals. It supports workers and taxpayers; it stimulates spending; it boosts the housing sector by helping first-time homebuyers and homeowners with renovations; it contains important measures to ensure access to credit and finance for Canadian individuals and business; it makes strategic investments to support cutting-edge research as well as particularly hard-hit sectors and communities; and last, but not least, it puts Canadians to work, building bridges, roads, public transit, campuses and other essential infrastructure. These are projects that will keep our economy moving in the short-term, but that we need to ensure our prosperity in the longer term.
And it is one of those essential projects that brings us together today. When it officially opened over 70 years ago, the Blue Water Bridge was hailed as a symbol of unity and friendship between nations. As the Sarnia Canadian Observer noted on October 8th, 1938: "The event the people of Canada and the United States are celebrating here today suggests they have learned the lesson that to live side-by-side in harmony and mutual helpfulness is the way to a more satisfying civilization." Even then, the bridge was also recognized as a key link in the world's largest trading relationship. As one of the presiding dignitaries observed: "We have foregathered to dedicate a great new instrument of commerce between two neighbours in the family of nations." So it has been and so it will continue to be.
I'm pleased to be here today to highlight our Government's support for improvements and upgrades to the Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward - Canada's second busiest commercial crossing, and this region's critical link to our most important ally and best customer. Work will focus on accelerating planned improvements by two years, including providing additional access lanes, widening the plaza and building new inspection booths. In the longer term, it will speed the flow of Canadian goods to major markets in the Midwest US, including Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis, and enhance the daily cross border interactions that are the lifeblood of communities on both sides of the border. In the short-term, of course, these investments will create well-paid local jobs when they are most needed, and thus forms a part of our wider job creation strategy. As some of you will recall, I was here in Sarnia last summer. I was then addressing the recent graduates of the Lambton College apprenticeship program. I reminded them of the incentives our Government has created to encourage those considering a career in the trades. Apprentices like those from right here in Sarnia will be responsible for building and maintaining Canada's next generation of factories, plants, schools, housing and other facilities and infrastructure right across the country. So once again, I want to make it clear that today's announcement is not simply about upgrading a border crossing bridge or the jobs it will create. It is more fundamentally about where we are headed economically as a country.
As the world struggles with the effects of global recession, we as Canadians are looking ahead. We are using our strong balance sheets to aggressively fund initiatives in communities right across the country, initiatives which will generate economic growth for many years to come. By looking forward today and investing in key infrastructure like the Blue Water Bridge, we are seizing the opportunities that will get us through these tough times and ensure that our country emerges strong than ever. Thank you all for coming.
