Latest News
- Premier To Meet With Canada's Leading Economists
- Premier Rodney MacDonald and Finance Minister Michael Baker will meet today, Nov. 17, with economic forecasters from Canada's Banks as well as the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) and the Conference Board of Canada. (More...)
School Kids' Info
Cabinet
Award of Excellence
- Read all about the Premier's Award of Excellence.
Medal of Bravery
- Find out about the Nova Scotia Medal of Bravery.
Milestone Certificates
- Find out about certificates for special milestones available from the Protocol Office.
Premier's Speeches
Premier Rodney MacDonald's column
Province Has All the Ingredients for Success
Chronicle Herald
November 28, 2006
November 29, I have the honour of delivering my first state of the province address. I will be speaking to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, but make no doubt: my message is for all of us.
Nova Scotia has inherent strengths and advantages; namely, talented people and technology. Nova Scotia is leading as the most connected province in the country and we don’t intend to stop until we are fully connected. Already, government departments have become model users of technology in order to better deliver programs and services, and our healthcare sector is implementing a standard clinical system.
In our schools, a child can learn about the world as never before. For example, students at Halifax West High School are using interactive video links with the Canadian Space Agency’s offices in Ottawa to tap into the minds and experience of the scientists and experts at the space agency.
Eastern Shore District High students have access as never before to take calculus in their school, thanks to this interactive video link. Their calculus teacher and classmates are kilometres away in Halifax West High School. These students and their teachers are using technology to effectively cancel any real or perceived divide between rural and urban areas. And Nova Scotia, as a whole, is using technology to cancel any divide between our province and the global economy.
We fundamentally understand that IT is the platform from which innovation happens. It’s also how we get business done.
Technology is a means by which businesses increase their competitiveness, from helping sawmills to produce more consistently uniform lumber, to the latest sonar and fish-finders that allow fishermen to improve their catches. And about 1,400 information technology companies, some of them among the most innovative in their fields, call Nova Scotia home.
What we do here in our province is valued, and has value, beyond our own borders. It’s not just the giants who matter on the world stage.
Nova Scotia has all the ingredients for success, such as our access to highspeed Internet, our key position as the fibre- optic crossroad to Europe and the U. S., our links to major markets and Nova Scotia’s talented workforce.
The key is to keep our mix of ingredients healthy and strong. My vision for a prosperous new Nova Scotia is about setting ourselves apart as a leader in technology and innovation.
Why? We must invest in our talent and create a Nova Scotia that is a magnet for people to fulfil their full potential, thereby making Nova Scotia’s future bright. The right investments to build a Nova Scotia for generations to come will result in the right jobs and opportunities that will show young Nova Scotians that their best future is here at home; the right jobs and the right opportunities will be the enticement needed to bring home those who have left; and the right jobs and the right opportunities will draw in new people who want to call Nova home.
I look forward to sharing more about how we will get there in the days, weeks and months to come!