 Good morning everyone glad to be here I have to like George did say how disappointed I think we all are not to have Randy Boasano here today out of an abundance of caution he is not able to join us but he's not entirely without a presence here on the wall behind me on the founders of start-up Edmonton third third name down in the front in the top row is Randy Boasano he is he has been an extraordinary driving force here in Edmonton for success for a long time and we are incredibly lucky to have him as part of our team leading the way as Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance he's always there to advocate alongside George for the interests of Alberta but he's also been incredibly busy over the past number of months as Associate Minister of Finance delivering an amazing budget that's having a huge impact on Canadians from coast to coast to coast it's great to be here at start-up Edmonton a division of Innovate Edmonton that does amazing work to promote local innovation thanks for having us Catherine it is a real pleasure to be here and thank you for everything you do for Alberta entrepreneurs in last week's budget we laid out our plan to grow our economy and invest in innovation and economic growth across the country Canada is home to the third largest tech hub in North America and Alberta is home to over 3,000 tech companies these are innovative sectors that have the huge potential to create good high-paying jobs for the future with the right tools we can ensure Canada continues to be a global innovation leader as many of us know Canada has some of the best scientists thinkers entrepreneurs and innovators in the world but in order to bring those great ideas to market and help their businesses grow they need support for research development and mostly commercialization so we're going to help drive innovation and help them succeed and be competitive last week we announced our intention to launch a new one billion dollar Canada innovation and investment agency it'll work with many of the brilliant scientists researchers innovators and inventors across the country to bring commercial success to businesses across different sectors in the mining sector the tourism sector fisheries and the high-tech sector among everything else we know there are some of the smartest the most innovative minds in the world's brilliant academics brilliant researchers here in Canada but getting those ideas into concrete businesses that can hire workers and contribute to our economy is a challenge that we're stepping up to support this agency will also help Canada's innovative startups to scale up like those that innovate Edmonton businesses like 2s water who's the CEO and the sergeant is here today 2s water uses real-time data to monitor water quality from municipalities resource companies farmers food producers and more their technology keeps people safe protects our environment and is ready to scale up those are the kinds of businesses that need that extra support and loans or grants from an agency like this to really allow them to move forward and contribute not just to the Canadian economy but to our well-being in Canada these entreprise come Celsius yet Edmonton and a year old peyote on the enormous amount of potential to croissants on what continue to be there and continue to be there and continue to be there and continue to innovate. Our government also wants to help all the small companies to grow and to create jobs across the economy. Presently, the rate of imposition of small businesses in Canada is the weakest of the G7 but this rate is quickly flattening which can encourage certain companies to attend their potential so we're going to cut taxes so that more growing businesses can take advantage of Canada's already low small business tax rate see Canada has the lowest small business tax rate in the G7 and we want to put that tax rate to work in encouraging more businesses to grow that's why we're making sure that small businesses can benefit from that tax rate longer even as they grow and scale up which means that as they grow they can use this advantage to invest in themselves hire more people and grow even faster. We're also working to build more resilient supply chains so that you can get what you make to markets across Canada and around the world. Our entrepreneurs and innovators who work hard take risks and find solutions to today's problem. Our message is simple. Our government is there to support you. We'll keep working to make sure that every person in Canada with a good idea can turn that idea into a successful business, create jobs and compete and win in the changing global economy.