At Home in Hespeler

I managed to get an invite to the big cheque ceremony (which didn’t, disappointedly, feature a big cheque) for National Research Council announcement of a grant for Cambridge company MedShare today. Full disclosure, MedShare founder and owner, Barry Billings, may have some relationship to me:

CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – April 3, 2009) – The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), announced today a contribution to MedShare Inc. from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) to support an innovative research and development project.

“The Government of Canada is committed to building a competitive advantage for the Canadian private sector and supports these leading edge technology solutions,” said Minister Goodyear. “This investment in the development of advanced technologies, taking place right here in Cambridge, can one day make the lives of the sick and the elderly much more manageable in their homes.”

MedShare is a software company that provides mobile health record solutions to meet the needs of North American home health care agencies. This initiative will receive a grant of up to $284,500 under the IRAP program and allow the company to explore a new solution for the management of electronic health records for the home care sector. The technology will ultimately be delivered to clients by one of MedShare’s health care delivery partners.

Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear

Barry Billings and Minister of State Gary Goodyear

Gary Goodyear Barry Billings, Blackberry, Gary Goodyear, Homecare, MedShare, Minister of State (science and Technology), National Research Council, NRCC

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology)

Gary Goodyear, Picture of the Day Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (science and Technology)

Here in Cambridge our local MP, Gary Goodyear, is also Minister of State for Science and Technology. It is in that capacity that he penned a piece that appeared in yesterdays National Post, Supporting Our Scientists:

It’s unfortunate that Liberal MP Marc Garneau, whose op-ed “Support our scientists” appeared in the Post on Feb. 11, has not taken the time to properly read the federal budget. Otherwise, he would have noticed that the government of Canada has made substantial new investments in science and technology. What is odd about his criticisms is that the Official Opposition did not bother to make any pre-budget submissions in support of science and technology programs. Stranger still, Mr. Garneau voted in favour of the budget that he now criticizes…

It’s a strong piece of partisan political writing and with jabs at the opposition and information on his department.  It’s also the first I have heard of Goodyear in his capacity as Minister of State, and is a good start to his cabinet career.

Gary Goodyear

I have met and like Gary Goodyear but I do not suggest I have been to Chez Goodyear on a Saturday night for cigars and sherry. On a couple of occasions I have met him in official capacity, and lets face it, he’s a good politician which means he presents well. That said I am pleased for Gary Goodyear who today was appointed Minister of State for Science and Technology, an appointment I think is overdue.

During Minister Goodyear’s first term as an MP, over the period of the Paul Martin Government, he was the head of the Conservative Party Ontario Caucus. After Stephen Harper’s 2006 increase in pay grade, I thought it possible that Goodyear would be rewarded for his work with the Ontario Caucus with a key to the cabinet bathroom. It was not to be, which makes this appointment, in my opinion, overdue. Goodyear has been a loyal party man during his time as an MP, and an opportunity to show his executive mettle is warranted.

Congratulations Minister Goodyear.

Gary Goodyear

Gary Goodyear, Picture of the Day

Everybody should know by now it will be a Conservative victory, probably an increased minority. As of this writing the seat count is:

Conservative 144
Liberal 74
Bloc 50
Laytonians 38
Greens 0
Non Green Independents 2

Here in Cambridge, Conservative MP Gary Goodyear was returned to Parliament with a large increase in support. Goodyear had won in 2006 by almost 6,000 votes over Liberal Janko Peric. This election Goodyear ran away with a 12,000 vote victory over Liberal newcomer Gord Zeilstra.

Meanwhile in Kitchener Centre we can report that annoying Liberal Karen Redman is losing to Conservative Stephen Woodworth, albeit only by a few hundred votes. That one is going to be close, but if the results hold it should make a certain Kitchener blogger we know very happy.

Meanwhile, ladies and gentleman, Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Election 2008, Gary Goodyear

As indicated by the last couple of posts, and possibly the next one, I wandered over to the neighbouring community of Guelph last night to hear the Prime Minister speak at a function for Guelph candidate Gloria Kovach. Guelph will be the site of the next federal by-election (along with a Quebec riding, I believe), a by-election that must be announced by Oct 10 – a lifetime for this government. Gloria Kovach is the Conservative candidate in that by-election, as well as being somebody I know, however informally, from outside politics. She in fact, used to work with Lady Hespeler.

Last nights event started off with the run through the usual cabal of protesters heckling the people entering the event. God bless their sincerity, it was a cold wet night to be standing outside being ignored for a couple of hours, but they kept with it.

Inside the hall, my MP Gary Goodyear kicked things off with a warm up speech that was, in my father-in-laws words, as entertaining as it was empty. But really, nobody was there to hear what Gary Goodyear had to say, so he got the meaningless lines and a chance to poke fun at the Liberals.

Next up was Gloria Kovach herself, who said little other than to introduce herself, thank everybody for their support, and introduce Prime Minister Harper. The two introductory speeches didn’t take ten minutes of the evening I am sure.

Then came the Prime Minister. He gave a fairly long speech, in the neighbourhood of half-an-hour I would estimate, and covered a lot of ground. He took a few jabs at Stephane Dion, particularly good was when he outlined all the times Dion swore he was taking down the government. But mostly he talked of the governments accomplishments, and what the Conservatives would like to do moving forward, including more crime legislation and senate reform. I thought the best line of the night was the most important (paraphrasing a little): in the by-elections Monday we did something very unusual for a governing party, we took a seat away from the opposition.

Overall it was a good effective speech for a partisan crowd. He hit all the right buttons, said most of the things a conservative crowd wanted to hear, and got an agreeable reaction. The night concluded with an opportunity to shake the PMs hand and get a picture with him. A nice opportunity, in which as I indicated earlier, I asked him where his wife was (I was hoping for a picture with her, actually). It resulted in a small, pleasant conversation about the kids schooling. I’ll tell you I had a far better chat with him (if 30 seconds = a chat) than if I’d asked him about tax policy or the Quebec question. If I ever get a chance to meet him again, I’m asking about Ben’s hockey

Gary Goodyear, Gloria Kovach, Pictures, Stephen Harper