Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in response to the government's Speech from the Throne that was delivered by Her Excellency just a few short weeks ago.
The speech conveyed a strong message to Canadians throughout the country as to how our government is delivering or guiding the nation through this global economic recession. In this way, I found the title of the speech rather appropriate in describing Canada as a stronger country with a stronger economy now and for the future.
While there have been a number of initiatives this government has been working on over the last few years, certainly one of the things I applaud that we have been doing is looking at some of the deficits we have in infrastructure in this country. It is important to know that it has been many years since there has been the kind of spending this government has done on infrastructure here in this country. It has been many years since the kind of money has been put into roads and bridges and buildings, and has been as significant as we have delivered in the last number of years.
One of the other things I find encouraging, as well, is the knowledge infrastructure that we continue to build. It has always been my thought process that we are going to move from the jobs of yesterday, and some of the jobs that we continue to struggle with, whether it be manufacturing. I know that my areas of Niagara and Hamilton have issues in terms of the steel production. We have issues in terms of some of the manufacturing.
I really believe that one of the things we are going to need to do as we move forward in the future is deal with this knowledge gap or deal with the commercialization of technology. Our government spends all kinds of money every year on R and D technology. It spends all kinds of money on a number of different initiatives.
I believe that one of the things that is important if we are going to find those jobs of the future is the need to deal with how we can commercialize some of that technology. There were definitely measures in the budget that dealt with some of those things.
First, though, I wanted to talk about some of the things that have been happening in my riding of Niagara West—Glanbrook, some of the things that have happened there and what my constituency has been able to do.
As we look at what is going on, certainly small-sized and medium-sized businesses that form the foundation of my riding's economic makeup have risen to the challenge. Many entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the government's economic stimulus programs and have helped create hundreds of new jobs in their first year. Much of this money has been allocated to these businesses to address the needs of the future and to ensure viability in the years ahead.
Most recently a number of local businesses in my riding, in the community of West Lincoln, received low interest loans to help them grow. This funding will be of great help to these committed members of our community who are working hard to ensure that we emerge from this recession stronger than before.
On that point, I would like to highlight some of the headline investments that have been made to the great benefit of my riding's residents. Just before Christmas I had the opportunity to announce a joint federal-provincial investment of $12 million to fund the building of a new YMCA in Grimsby, in Beamsville, which will also work to benefit the surrounding communities of Lincoln and West Lincoln.
Further to this good news, I am very pleased to see that construction will start very soon and will create additional jobs for my community. I know we are all well aware of and familiar with the many benefits that come from a YMCA, not only from the point of view of families but the sense of community, as well as the fitness centre. I believe that my constituents are all very excited about the prospect of that.
We have seen other local infrastructure in my riding that have very real benefits, including dollars that will be flowing to Pelham, Fonthill, West Lincoln and Grimsby to assist with everything from major road construction to revitalization of the entire downtown core in Pelham.
Just last Friday my colleague, the member for Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, was in Hamilton announcing $200 million that is going to go for waste water. If we think about that and the kind of project that involves, towns and cities just do not have that kind of money. Without that help from our government, Hamilton would have a hard time developing some of the lands it needs to develop in order to attract new businesses. This is a very important part of seeing things grow.
One of the other projects that has been very close to my heart is the Marydale Park in Glanbrook. This joint federal-provincial funding of over $2 million will mean that this park will become a reality. The amazing thing about this park is that it is going to be one of the first barrier-free parks in Ontario, not just wheelchair accessible but barrier free. We can think about the opportunities this affords young people and teenagers with disabilities who are just not able to enjoy a camping experience as a result of what they have to deal with in most places. The fact that they are going to have playing fields, trails, pools and all these things, will mean so much more to these people who are unable to enjoy the camping experience.
Certainly CYO in Hamilton needs to be commended because many volunteer hours have gone into this project to make this a reality. Not only will the construction jobs from these projects provide the community with short-term relief, but I believe it will also provide a wide range of full-time jobs that will become available once these projects are complete.
Recently, with the Minister of State for Science and Technology, I was able to announce a $2 million contribution, low interest loan, for the construction of the Canada Bread Company, as it will be looking at developing and putting in a new state-of-the-art production facility in Glanbrook. Canada Bread will be one of the first anchor tenants in the North Glanbrook Industrial Business Park and, as I just mentioned, part of that $200 million for waste water will also help provide the services that are needed so this type of investment could happen.
This investment will be over $100 million made by the company, Canada Bread, to construct a 375,000 square foot bakery facility. This new world class plant will feature leading-edge equipment, best-in-class technologies, and is being touted as one of the largest bread plants in North America upon completion. This new plant will be supporting up to 300 new jobs and create approximately 120 construction-related jobs during the construction phase of the project. That will be helpful for those residents in my community.
New technologies that are being implemented in this facility leads well into what Her Excellency spoke to when she commented on the unprecedented investments in Canada's economic action plan that the government is building by bolstering up our science and technology strategy.
This goes again to some of the things I said earlier about how important it is to look at how we commercialize and deal with technology.
One of those other companies that does a great job in my riding is called Accipiter Radar. Accipiter Radar has been there for a number of years and it has been working on state-of-the-art radar technology. It has attracted the attention of people in the U.S., homeland security, as well as some of the companies we have here. It does a phenomenal job and it does great work for a small company in a very small town.
These are some of the things I believe are important. I was pleased to see in our budget that we committed $20 million for Pathways to Education, which has been very near and dear and close to my heart. This organization has done phenomenal work. It has taken the drop-out rate in certain areas, such as Regent Park, that was north of 56%, to below 10%.
We are concerned about the economy where we need people to have knowledge, and there is this dirty little secret that if we do not finish high school, there is no way we can get into post-secondary education. Pathways, through mentoring, tutoring and some short-term and long-term incentives, has given these kids hope. These kids, who were dropping out, hanging around gangs and taking their cue from the drug dealers on the street, are now being mentored in a way where they get to see people, professionals, come in and demonstrate the kinds of things that they could just maybe one day hope to accomplish.
I believe these are the kinds of investments that are so important because if we look at a less than 10% drop-out rate, it is better than the provincial average, which is around 25% or 26%. Now 80% of those people are going on to post-secondary education. That is a pretty exciting thing.
This is just one way our government believes that we can change the way things are happening in this country. It is coming alongside organizations like Pathways. It started one community in Regent Park. It is now in seven communities across the country, from coast to coast, and moving on a number of additional initiatives.
I am very excited about the prospects for this country. This has been too long in coming and the government has done a great job to put Canada back on the map where it belongs.