PREMIER'S VISION 

Premier’s Remarks At The Opening Of MaRS Discovery District

Thank you very much for your very kind and generous introduction.

For months now, I've been looking forward to this day. My office window has given me a good view of the construction project and it seems like just yesterday that the old building was gutted in no time at all and the new buildings went up.

This is quite simply an amazing facility.

I had an opportunity a few moments ago to get a tour upstairs and to learn more about the partnerships and the relationships that are flowing from this locale.

I think it was Winston Churchill who once said that first we shape our buildings and then they shape us.

It turns out that our physical environment has a profound influence on us and how we relate to one another.

I want to start by congratulating the people who have been working so hard to make this day possible.

I especially want to recognize Dr. John Evans, the chair of MaRS and President and CEO Dr. Ilse Treurnicht for all their hard work, their perseverance and their huge commitment.

And I wish you and your colleagues even more success as you continue to lead MaRS into the future.

My Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Joe Cordiano, is also with us today.

Joe has been a champion of this project from day one at the Cabinet table and I want to thank him for all his work.

But I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you in this room today.

Because it's your shared vision, your passion and commitment to this idea of MaRS and what it could be that has brought us here today.

I was thinking the other day about how much time and effort the US has spent sending probes to the planet of Mars. Don't get me wrong, that is exciting science.

But here in Ontario, we do things just a little bit differently.

Instead of sending researchers into space, we've made space for researchers.

Instead of visiting Mars, we brought MaRS down to earth.

Instead of spending billions on inter-planetary travel, you can fly here on the Red Rocket for $2.50.

We really have found a better way.

It's particularly appropriate as well that we're here during National Biotechnology Week, which highlights the importance of research and innovation for the sector.

MaRS will bring together all the ingredients of successful research and innovation under one roof: the scientists who do the research, the entrepreneurs who support the research and the businesses that bring the research to the marketplace.

MaRS will help ensure that Toronto -- and Ontario -- remains on the cutting edge of research and innovation for years to come.

That's why I'm so proud that our government has invested $50 million dollars to support this important project. I also want to acknowledge and applaud the previous Conservative government's support for this project.

I think it's important to mention that.

You can too easily get caught up in partisanship.

I think everyone here knows those places around the world that invest in innovation, that cap and stoke the creativity of their people, that market their ideas most effectively will be home to the most rewarding jobs, to the strongest economies and the best quality of life.

And as Premier, as the province's first Minister of Research and Innovation, it's my goal to build a more innovative, more creative Ontario.

An Ontario that leads Canada, that is at the forefront in the development of an innovation culture that permeates the private and public sectors.

A culture supported both by a creative, cutting-edge workforce and a broad public understanding of and support for research and innovation.

That's my vision for research and innovation in Ontario and that's what I want to talk to you about today.

I want to share with you what we are doing to promote research and innovation right here, right now.

And I want to talk about how we can continue building on our successes together in the years and decades ahead.

Just a few moments ago I had the privilege of taking a tour around MaRS and it brought back some old memories.

In university, I majored in biology, so for a few moments when I was looking at the state-of-the-art-labs, technology and instrumentation, my inner scientist wanted to grab a lab coat and get busy because the experience, the thrill of helping push back frontiers of knowledge is rewarding, heavy stuff.

And you can see that excitement in the eyes of the high school students sitting behind me today.

They are here to demonstrate some of the projects they completed for a recent bio-tech competition.

Trust me, these are no ordinary science projects.

One team genetically modified Antarctic hair grass to improve the way it removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Another team looked at a possible new treatment for Type 2 diabetes and another team researched ways to make wounds heal faster.

This is impressive stuff. At a time in their lives when most kids are still figuring how to drive a car, these young people are manipulating DNA.

Maybe Hungarian Nobel Prize Winner Albert Szent-Györgyi described research and innovation best when he said, "research is to see what everybody has seen and to think what nobody has thought."

These students are doing just that.

Seeing our world in a whole new way.

When I look at them, I see the tremendous opportunities that we have here in Ontario.

The opportunity to harness that creative energy and the creative energy of thousands of other young people.

We could build a province that is truly capitalizing on its people's talent for innovation.

And we could use that talent to create new wealth and a higher quality of life for all of us.

And there's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that we can do this.

We can build that Ontario.

After all, Ontarians have already laid a strong foundation of innovation.

We gave the world insulin; a discovery that has saved countless lives.

We developed the world's first regulated heart pacemaker, improving the quality of life for millions of heart patients.

And we are still making firsts -- lots of them.

Researchers at Queen's University have discovered a new class of cells that can help people living with spinal cord injuries.

A professor at the University of Guelph has found a way to create films that are thousands of times thinner than a human hair to help make even smaller microchips.

A researcher at the University of Toronto is using lake sediments in the far north to help fight global warming.

And at the Ottawa Health Research Institute, they are working with viruses to selectively kill cancer cells without damaging surrounding tissues.

The list of remarkable achievements by Ontarians could go on and on.

But the harsh truth, my friends, is this: We can and we must do better because the competition demands it, because Ontarians deserve it.

Imagine how much more productive we could be in generating new ideas and wealth if our collective efforts were aligned and more focused where it's needed, because they are clearly not right now.

Imagine what we can do if we all pull together.

Growing up in a family of ten I have learned a couple of valuable lessons.

Lesson number one: Never show up late for dinner.

Lesson number two: If we pull together, we didn't feel like ten.

We felt like twenty.

It's time for all of us in this province to pull together.

For too long, we've lacked a clear plan, a coordinated effort for long-term goals.

By contrast, other places have well-integrated and strategic approaches to innovation.

Simply put, they know what they want to achieve and they are going out and getting it.

For example, South Korea has elevated its Minister of Science and Technology to the level of deputy prime minister.

It also strengthened the role and authority of its National Science and Technology Council. Because of a concerted government effort there, South Korea is a world leader in R & D as a share of GDP.

They are turning out lots of engineering majors and they are very strong in the area of production technology.

Their economy should be strong for years to come because they've made innovation a priority and they put in place a strategy to get there.

We could learn a lot from that experience.

We can also take note that in many cases the countries that are investing most heavily in research and development are not the world's leading economies but some of our emerging nations.

They are investing in R & D by investing heavily in their people.

China, for instance, graduates more than 300 thousand engineers every year.

I understand they are finishing construction on their 1,300 th post-secondary institution.

Other countries are hungry for business.

They've wrapped up not only their manufacturing sector but their services sector too.

For example, India has an inexpensive, highly skilled workforce.

Now, a hospital in North America can e-mail an x-ray to Bombay at the end of the workday and you will get your results first thing in the morning.

We need to keep our eye on the places that are working hard and nurturing creativity because those are the key elements of global competition.

More than the flow of goods or services for capital.

Places like India and China aren't just nipping at our heels anymore.

They are running neck and neck with North America, and in many cases, they are pulling ahead of us.

And let's not kid ourselves; they are not racing us to the bottom.

They are racing us to the top.

And in that kind of a race, slow and steady just won't cut it. In that kind of a race, you've got to be fast.

Fast to discover. Fast to build. Fast to market.

We need to lay a foundation for speed here in Ontario.

And compared with other jurisdictions in North America, Ontario ranks near the bottom of the list when it comes to both private and public sector investments in innovation.

In 2002, per capita public investment in R & D in Ontario was only $124.

Well below the national average of $172 and less than half the average for the U.S., which spent $450 per person.

Ontario spends about $559 per person in private sector investments. That again lags the American average of $959 and it's a far cry from countries like Sweden, which invests $1,348 per person.

Now, some people might point to Ontario's strong manufacturing sector, especially the auto sector and question the need for investments in R & D.

That kind of thinking is short sighted, setting aside the fact of the moment that significant R & D be taking place in manufacturing.

The reality is that a single new invention can blindside an entire industry.

Think of what CDs did to the record player, what the PC did to typewriters, what digital technology is doing to the film industry or what the next big breakthrough in alternative energy will mean for all of us.

Places that build a better mousetrap, that invent, build and market innovations successfully -- those are the economies to watch out for.

Those are the economies that will grow and strive in decades to come. And in today's inter-connected and wired worlds, it really does just take one spark of an idea to change everything.

So, it's pretty clear to me that to a very large extent Ontario's future prosperity depends on our capacity to do two things fast:

One: get out of the gate with a new idea.

And two: turn that idea into a product or service.

I think we owe it to our young people, especially those like the students I met this morning to assure that their creative sparks shine as brightly as they can.

Our government understands ideas are important, which is why we are investing $6.2 billion dollars more in post-secondary education and training over the next five years.

In a few years time, I want to see the students I met this morning enrolled in an Ontario grad school working towards their PhDs.

I want to see Ontario firms and schools competing to hire them.

I want to see their pictures in magazines and their work celebrated in the press.

By the way, as Ontarians we are too shy about our accomplishments.

We need to do a better job of supporting and celebrating our talent.

And that means first recognizing and nurturing talent where we find it.

I love that old 'Think Different' ad campaign run by Apple Computers.

Here's the text of one of those print-ads, and I quote:

"Here's to the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They are not fond of rules. They have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. But the only things you can't do is ignore them because they change things. They push this human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

We need to support those creative, talented Ontarians who actually believe they can change this world.

Richard Florida says that while only one-third of our workers are employed in the creative sector, every human being has creative potential.

And I couldn't agree more.

Each of us has the ability to imagine something completely new.

That is our creative potential.

It's what makes us unique as human beings.

It's what makes us special as individuals.

From the toddler's handprints taped to the fridge door to the mapping of the human genome.

From the Lego robot on the living room floor to the Canada Arm on the Space Shuttle.

Every human being has something creative to contribute to society.

The key is unlocking the creative potential inside every person, every institution, every company and finding a way to harness it and unleash it on the world.

When we can reach that goal in Ontario, then nothing will be beyond Ontario's reach.

That's why our government created a ministry that is dedicated to research and innovation, because we believe in the creative potential of all Ontarians.

And I chose to lead that ministry because I believe that unlocking that potential is essential to our province's future.

You know the great thing about being Premier is, when you want to set-up a new ministry, you can appoint yourself minister.

Who would object?

I have two goals as Minister of Research and Innovation:

First of all, I want to support the process of innovation.

And second, I want to create a culture of innovation.

Right now, the Ontario government's investments in innovation are spread over nine different ministries with nine different agendas.

I want to focus those investments and target them strategically.

To help do that, I will be appointing an Ontario research and innovation council so I can get the best possible advice from the panel of experts.

They will help identify opportunity for innovation, provide ideas on how to promote Ontario's strengths and develop strategies for mobilizing all sectors of the economy to support our innovation agenda.

The council will advise the government on the best, most strategic ways to use our resources.

And it will look for ways to increase not only our government's participation in research and innovation, but to better coordinate with the federal government and encourage the private sector to renew their commitment as well.

Successful innovation, especially successful innovation on a large scale, is a partnership.

It involves the people and institutions that create the ideas, those who turn them into products and services and, ultimately, the consumer.

It involves an investment of time and money by lots of partners.

In other words, it's not something that you'd be able to do alone.

Innovation is social and cultural.

That's why my second goal will be to find ways to create a culture of innovation. Believe it or not, it's not enough just to invent the next big thing.

The next Blackberry, the next leap forward in fuel cell technology or even the next breakthrough in cancer research.

Creativity needs to be sustained. It needs to be ingrained.

It needs to be cultivated in every sector.

And it needs to be part of everyone's job description.

So, the goal of Ontario's new Ministry of Research and Innovation isn't to create instances of innovation, its goal is to make innovation inevitable.

It's purpose is to help our province become a place that is more creative, more willing to experiment, more willing to take risks because risks are a necessary part of innovation.

Maybe T. S. Elliott said it best. He said, "only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

I think we need to take more risks in the province.

If you want a culture of innovation, we need to support the risk takers, the dreamers and the doers.

But more than that, a culture of innovation is doing a better job of connecting innovators and investors.

Helping investors find ideas to invest in and helping innovators get support they need.

A culture of innovation means promoting innovation everywhere -- in our schools, our cultural institutions, our businesses, our government, everywhere.

And most importantly, a culture of innovation means giving our innovators, Ontarians, the tools they need to succeed.

And those that can only be the highest levels of skills and education.

That's why our government is so focused on improving the quality of education for Ontarians.

From reducing class sizes in the early years, to ensuring our twelve year olds have mastered reading, writing and math at a high level, to making learning mandatory until the age of eighteen, to dramatically improving student assistance, to increasing apprenticeship, undergrad and grad spaces, our government understands in the profoundest sense possible that building up Ontario means building up Ontarians.

Ladies and gentlemen, our government is now halfway through its mandate and there is so much more work to be done.

And here's the plain truth:

We can't do it alone.

Everyone in this room here today -- scientists and students, artists and trades people, politicians and business leaders -- has a role to play in turning this province of ours into a lightening rod for research and innovation.

Robert Browning couldn't have said it better. A man's reach should exceed his grasp.

Here in Ontario we have some of the brightest, most creative minds on this planet.

We have some of the best schools and teachers, we have a highly productive and skilled workforce, we have leading-edge research facilities, we have fearless entrepreneurs, we have scientists who are pushing back the frontiers of human knowledge each and every day.

We have creative minds in every field of human activity.

One of them will be the next Madame Curie, the next Stephen Hawking, the next George Lucas or the next Marshall McLuhan.

Somewhere in Ontario, right now, they are working on an idea that is going to change our lives forever.

Let's give them our support.

Let's unleash their potential, and by so doing, unleash Ontario's potential.

Thank you very much.