Mr. Speaker, opening at the end of this year, the automotive centre of excellence on the campus of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology will help to transform Durham into a global centre of research and development. Attracting the best and brightest engineering minds from across the country and around the world, it will drive made in Canada, leading edge innovation with a world class learning environment.
Among its unique capacities will be one of the world's largest and most sophisticated climatic wind tunnels. This technology will permit students and businesses to test cars, transport vehicles, locomotives, aircraft components and new energy technologies such as wind turbines.
As a member of the previous Liberal government, I am deeply proud of the Beacon project that we announced in 2005, which helped make this project a reality, and of the many visionaries who worked tirelessly to bring it to fruition.
In touring the new facility, it is clear that the automotive centre of excellence will be an engine for jobs, innovation and opportunity for our community and a critical part of Durham's future as a global centre for research and development.