Last month,
a $35 million gift from philanthropist Peter Munk -- the largest in the history of the University of Toronto -- was added to $25 million from the province of Ontario to set up the Munk School of Global Affairs at U of T. This week Prime Minister announced that his government would be chipping in an additional $25 million to create a centre for global security at the school.
According to the
federal government's website, Prime
Minister Stephen Harper says, "This new Centre will help us develop deeper expertise
in addressing global security concerns."
The new school is expected to employ top researchers from around the world at a newly constructed downtown facility to study issues around terrorism and global security.
In a separate statement, school director Janice Gross Stein said the Munk School of Global Affairs is in an excellent position to tackle the mandate. "Issues of global security will be a defining framework for our country over the next decade and beyond, and
Canada
needs a strong publicly supported research centre to put the Canadian
voice on the international stage," said Stein. "Given our strengths,
the Munk School is the natural place to house this new Centre.
Although numbers were not immediately available, there are significant employment implications to the recent announcements, as the total of $85 million in funding will, according to University of Toronto representatives, construct new facilities and hire new faculty and administrators.
Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Janice Gross Stein, Munk School of Global Affairs; Office of the Prime Minister of Canada; University of Toronto Media Relations; Glob and Mail
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