October 13, 2005 Source: University of Toronto: http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/051013-1693.asp Throne speech helps create culture of innovation: president 'Welcome and very positive steps', Naylor says
Oct 13/05 The following statement was issued by university president David Naylor this morning: We applaud the provincial government for continuing to recognize that prosperity equals innovation, a commitment that was apparent in yesterday’s speech from the throne. Through its Reaching Higher plan, announced in the spring, the provincial government strongly supported post-secondary education as the backbone of innovation. Reaching Higher injected $6.2 billion in new investments into universities and colleges in Ontario. It offered students the opportunity for a better-quality education through the addition of as many as 3,000 new faculty members. It supported research by providing a $100-million graduate fellowship endowment to train our next generation of researchers. And it offered a greater number of talented students the opportunity to attend university through significant improvements to the student loan program. Now, the government has provided a broader view of how it will contribute to a province-wide culture of innovation. The throne speech commits the government to wide-ranging investments in early childhood education, and enhanced supports for elementary and secondary schools. These are welcome and very positive steps that will strengthen the educational fabric of Ontario. The University of Toronto particularly applauds the government for its multi-pronged strategy to enhance the accessibility of higher education. As an institution with a highly diverse student population, we are delighted by the First Generation Plan that aims to serve the needs of university students whose parents never had the door to higher education open to them. The First Generation Plan dovetails with the government’s strengthened commitment to improving access for people who have been underrepresented in Ontario’s post-secondary institutions: Ontarians with disabilities, Aboriginal Peoples and francophones. The government's accessibility strategy also plays out in new programs that will extend a stronger hand to the immigrants who enrich Ontario’s culture of innovation by: • supporting special projects to help students who need assistance in learning English as a second language; and
• embracing the goal of accessibility, pioneered by the University of Toronto, to ensure that no student is denied a post-secondary education because of his or her financial circumstances. Ontario has articulated the ambition to compete with the world on the basis of our ability to innovate, a goal that is laudable and achievable. The University of Toronto is a key steward of that ambition. Yesterday’s speech from the throne underscores the partnership that is possible in the years ahead between Ontario’s leading research university, Ontario’s government and a new generation of made-in-Ontario innovators. | 