Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to the attention of the House the recent donation of $9.7 million to the University of Toronto chemistry department by Mrs. Edna Davenport and the estate of her late husband John Davenport.
The surprise announcement of this generous gift came at a dinner last night honouring six Nobel laureates from around the world, including our own John Polanyi of the University of Toronto.
Mrs. Davenport is originally from Owen Sound, Ontario and a graduate of the University of Toronto in 1929 and was represented at the dinner by her son Peter Davenport for the announcement.
The chair of the chemistry department at the University of Toronto, Dr. Martin Moscovits, has said that the gift will be used to build state of the art molecular science laboratories at the university's chemistry building and will ensure that the University of Toronto and Canada remain world leaders in research in chemistry.
Philanthropy of this type is rare and greatly appreciated. I hope one day it will lead to future Nobel laureates from the University of Toronto.
I know that I am joined by the University of Toronto community, members of this House and indeed all Canadians in thanking the Davenports for this spectacular act of generosity.