Speaking Points
John Carmichael, Member of Parliament for Don Valley West, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for FedDev Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
July 21, 2015
Check against delivery
Good morning ladies and gentlemen, friends and guests.
Thank you, David Lacey, for that warm introduction.
And, of course, thank you to Perimeter Medical Imaging, for hosting us at your new facilities.
This is my favourite part of the job. Today, I get to deliver some great news on behalf of Prime Minister Harper and the Government of Canada.
First of all, I want to talk about where we are, today, as a nation.
Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to say that Canada is one of the leaders in economic growth. And we are consistently recognized as one of the most welcoming places to do business.
Our taxes are among the lowest, our skilled workforce is unmatched, and Canada now boasts one of the best job creation records in the G7.
Our Government's legislative accomplishments include the passage of Economic Action Plan 2015 (EAP 2015), a low-tax plan for jobs and growth. Through EAP 2015, we are delivering our Family Tax Cuts and Benefits Plan that is putting money back into the pockets of every single Canadian family with children.
That's money that parents can spend on their families' priorities. It also takes steps to cut taxes for small businesses, invest in public infrastructure, support seniors, invest in education and skills training, and much more.
And, of course, Economic Action Plan 2015 is as promised: a balanced budget that will help keep Canada on track for long-term prosperity. The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, or FedDev Ontario as it is more commonly known, has funded thousands of partnerships and projects all across southern Ontario.
FedDev Ontario has invested more than $547 million in 534 projects in the Greater Toronto Area alone. More importantly, our support is expected to leverage nearly $1 billion more in investment.
FedDev Ontario's Investing in Business Innovation initiative focuses on fostering a more competitive southern Ontario economy by encouraging the development of partnerships between entrepreneurs and investors to support early-stage, globally-oriented businesses. This program seeks to fund businesses that have the potential to become world-leading innovators.
And now, with this in mind, I'm thrilled to share some great news for southern Ontario and some great news for a truly innovative company.
Perimeter's solution is an exciting tool called OTIS which stands for Optical Tissue Imaging System.
This innovative imaging tool equips medical professionals to make better decisions during tumour surgeries. In the case of breast lumpectomy surgeries, it allows them to determine whether they have removed all of the cancerous tissue, or whether they need to remove additional layers of breast tissue before completing the surgery.
While I'll let the experts at Perimeter go into more detail, we are ultimately talking about reducing the chance that cancer cells are left behind, which means less follow-up surgeries. This also means less stress for breast cancer patients and increased savings for hospitals. This is a very exciting advance in the current standard of care for these patients!
Investing in this level of Canadian innovation is something our Government is excited to support.
So, today, I am announcing, on behalf of Minister Goodyear, the Minister of State for FedDev Ontario, that Perimeter Medical Imaging, Inc. will receive up to $980,000 to support the development of this innovative new, imaging tool.
Thanks to this investment, Perimeter will be able to move to the next phase of product and clinical development and accelerate regulatory clearances for OTIS.
In addition to FedDev Ontario funding, Perimeter is expected to leverage an additional $4.26 million in private sector investment, $300,000 in other government investments, and an additional $5 million in private sector investments by 2016.
Not only is Perimeter expected to strengthen the medical devices market in southern Ontario and create high-quality jobs for Canadians, the company is also bringing new innovations to the fight against cancer.
Congratulations again. We are all looking forward to seeing this project unfold.
