CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Hello everyone.

It’s always great to be here with friends, particularly you, Premier Ford, but here as well with Minister Anand.

We’re also joined by provincial Ministers Clark and Fedeli, the president of 3M Canada Penny Wise, and of course, Mayor Baker of Brockville.      

Right from the start of this crisis, our government has worked closely with the provinces and territories to get Canadians the support they need.

Fighting COVID-19 is a Team Canada effort and, since March, we’ve shipped out millions of pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to our provincial and territorial partners.

Whether it’s hospital gowns, gloves, face shields, or masks, we’re working around the clock to help our essential workers.  

At the same time, we’ve invested in production here at home.

Earlier this summer, we announced a contract with General Motors to produce 10 million face masks at their plant in Oshawa, items that are already rolling off the line.

Not only does this create good, middle-class jobs, it also helps ensure that we have the capacity to make whatever we need here in our own communities.

And on that front, we have even more good news to share today.

Today, I can announce that the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario have reached an agreement with 3M Canada to expand their facility and make N95 masks right here in Brockville.

The federal government will support 3M’s capital investment by contributing just over $23 million, and the Government of Ontario is doing the same.

Once it’s up and running, this plant will deliver 25 million N95 masks each year to the federal government, and another 25 million to the province of Ontario.

As Minister Bains has said before, this is part of our made-in-Canada plan to find solutions to COVID-19.

This will keep our front line workers safe, and secure domestic PPE production for years to come.

We also want to make sure we have N95 masks available should we face another health crisis in the future.

This facility should be operational starting early next year.

Before we get to questions, I want to take a moment to once again thank Premier Ford for his collaboration on this project and on many other things.

Today’s announcement is yet another example of the important progress we can make by working together.

Right across the country, different orders of government have worked hand-in-hand with one shared goal: keeping Canadians safe and getting our economies rolling again.

And this announcement today is just another example of what we can do when we work together and focus on all Canadians.

Together, we are making the necessary investments to protect the lives of our front line workers in Ontario and across Canada.

We will continue to work with the provinces and territories to provide Canadians with the support they need in the coming weeks and months.       

Thank you very much.