The Walkerton Clean Water Centre was established to prevent another Walkerton Tragedy from ever happening again. That's why here at the centre we have an unwavering commitment to applied research, technology demonstrations and expert training programs. They are the very core of our mission.

Our newly constructed technology demonstration facility houses the latest technology and equipment available to our industry. It's an invaluable research tool and allows us to easily transfer knowledge to operators and other water suppliers, through practical hands-on training. One of our priorities is to step up water operator training and we've done that. We've done that very effectively. We've now trained over 28,000 participants from across the province.

Another important group we're working with now are colleges. They train the water operators of the future. Colleges send their best students for three days of hands-on training in the technology demonstration facility. In some ways it's better than touring an actual treatment facility, because as a pilot plant the water isn't going anywhere. They can actually experiment with different technologies side-by-side. All-in-all it's a terrific training tool. We help companies develop made-in-Ontario technologies. For example, we can test their technology here at the centre or potentially get an environmental approval by running it through a testing protocol. Or we can work with regulators to help companies get the approvals that they need to be successful.

The centre has a terrific opportunity to do applied research as well. Due to our expertise, we've helped a number of municipalities with difficult to treat water supplies. They can truck in their source water and run it through our range of technologies, to give them a report on what works and what doesn't.

Complacency brings a false sense of security. We relentlessly commit ourselves to innovation in applied research, technology and high quality training. Owner and operators of Ontario's water drinking systems, especially those serving small, remote and First-Nation's communities have access to our resources and expertise in water systems.

Everything we do is done with one goal in mind: to safeguard and protect Ontario's drinking water.