Good afternoon everyone. It is a real pleasure to be here. I would like to thank our media friends for coming today, this is an important story and we are so pleased you are here to report on it.
Before I begin, I must say that having just returned from our Campus in Saudi Arabia and having visited the construction site for our new Campus in Kuwait, I am reminded of how fortunate we are to live in this beautiful part of Canada. Having campuses alongside the Persian Gulf and Red Sea is wonderful, yet this location – here at Shaw Woods – is extraordinary. I also have to say that this new pavilion looks wonderful and is a great location for our students to gather and learn so thank you to everyone who has made its construction possible.
Organizational Relationships
It is interesting how certain relationships are formed – how two seemingly different organizations cross paths to find common purpose. At first glance Algonquin College and the Canadian Wildlife Federation – or CWF – appear to be quite different kinds of organizations.
Yet if we take a moment to look more deeply into our histories – into the things that Algonquin and the CWF have demonstrated to be of importance, it is in fact not a surprise to see our paths cross here today. To explain, let me take you back in time to share what I believe is the essence of this moment today.
President Roosevelt
One hundred years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt was recognized as a great outdoorsman. In his time as President, he chose to protect 230 million acres of wildlife and public lands.
He became known as the Conservationist President and in that context Roosevelt once said, “Every man who appreciates the majesty and beauty of the wilderness and of wildlife, should strike hands with the farsighted men who wish to preserve our material resources…”.
Farsighted Men
Here in Canada, we too had a group of farsighted men – a small but visionary group of leaders who in the early 60s came together in Montreal and later Ottawa to create a national voice for wildlife and conservation. From those humble beginnings, one of Canada’s iconic organizations – the Canadian Wildlife Federation – was born.
Shortly after that day in Ottawa in 1962, there was also a group of people who gathered just a few miles down the road. In 1967 one of Canada’s preeminent polytechnic institutions was also born – Algonquin College. Over these nearly fifty years, Algonquin College – and in particular this campus here in Pembroke – came to be known as Canada’s best outdoor education and training post secondary institution.
Algonquin College has grown from those humble beginnings – about 600 students in 1967 – to now having over 20, 000 full-time students, 30, 000 part-time students and over 150000 graduates – graduates who have been provided the skills and knowledge to leave the artificial world of a classroom and enter the workforce with the real-world skills and knowledge to make a difference.
The Benefits of the MOU
Bringing Algonquin College and the Canadian Wildlife Federation together is a wonderful synergy of mission and purpose. This MOU has several benefits but let me expand briefly on three of them.
Sandrella