Calgary - Good afternoon, everyone. It is a great pleasure to be here today on behalf of our Conservative Government and my colleague, the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.

To help ensure that Canada emerges from the current global recession stronger than ever, our Government has been taking concrete, effective and targeted steps to stimulate and sustain our economy through Canada’s Economic Action Plan. 

As of December 1, just ten months into this fiscal year, 97 per cent of the Plan had been committed.

Today, our absolute priority remains the same: to continue doing everything we can to deliver timely, targeted and affordable support to our Canadian workers, families and businesses who need it most.

I am pleased to announce our Government is taking another step towards economic recovery by investing more than $166,000 towards upgrading the Olympic Plaza.

Through this funding, the City of Calgary is modernizing the existing ice plant mechanical system that serves the outdoor skating rink.
Olympic Plaza’s skating rink is one of the most iconic recreational venues in this City and is representative of the lasting legacy of the 1988 Winter Olympics held right here in Calgary.

By investing in this timely project, we are investing in the preservation of that legacy, while also encouraging both residents and visitors to our city to take advantage of the rink’s improved ice surface.

This project is funded through the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) program, or RInC as it is known.

Over a two-year period, this new infrastructure program is investing $500 million to improve recreational infrastructure in communities across the country. 

It is a short-term response that is helping to maintain Canada’s economic strength by creating jobs right now, when they’re needed most.

And, as of December 1, 2009, approximately $170 million in recreational infrastructure funding has been committed to projects across the country.

RInC is providing more than a short-term economic stimulus … it is also a long-term investment in the quality of life for Canadians. 

Recreational facilities – such as local hockey rinks, swimming pools, and sports fields – are the heart of Canadian communities… providing places where families, friends and neighbours can gather together to get fit and have fun.

Working with other levels of government, we have dramatically accelerated the planning, development and execution of infrastructure projects, like this, from coast to coast to coast.

Many of our country’s recreational facilities were built to celebrate Canada’s Centennial in 1967.  It was a time of great national pride and enormous optimism for the future, so it seems fitting that we should re-invest in those facilities today.

However, RInC is just one of a broad range of initiatives announced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

Our Government is creating and protecting jobs, building infrastructure, easing the tax burden on families, supporting Canadians who have lost their jobs, helping threatened industries, and laying the foundations for our future prosperity.

And while we are already showing signs of recovery, the economy remains Canadians' top priority as well as our Government’s.

That’s why we are going to complete the roll-out of our Economic Action Plan, return the federal budget to balance once the economy has recovered, and build the economy of the future.

Together we are all working to build a stronger West for a stronger Canada.