Karen’s Thank you Speech

Thank you Matt. We love Cisco in Manitoba.

And "Thank You" Canarie, because of the capacity of CANet, we are treated like rock stars when we visit our US counterparts. They gaze longingly towards our border and they covet our national network.

Thank You also to the Smart Partners Board of Directors, especially Jose Rueda and our technical committee. Bill Reid, who early on awakened our interests and helped me to understand the far reaching effects that communication technology would someday have. Bill worked for Gerry Miller in those early days and Gerry has also assisted Smart Partners many times and continues to do so.

Thanks to Bill St. Arnault who reminds us through his emails 3 or 4 times a week of what is possible. He also shows us what we have left to achieve. Around our office Bill is know as Saint Canarie.

Thanks to my husband and business partner, Alvin, for putting up with my causes, for repeatedly coming to the rescue and for keeping me on track and in perspective.

Thanks to Western Economic Diversification and Manitoba Energy, Science and Technology for supporting us in many ways so we can continue to help make Manitoba "Smart" and an even better place to live and do business.

Thanks to Manitoba Hydro, they have just finished installing 1,152 kilometres of 48 strand cable through the Interlake and into communities as far north as Gillam. They are my heroes.

The Canarie backbone enables our universities and many other institutions including the recent connection to Brandon University. You give us the inspiration to continue bringing the community visionaries the information they need to join the Canarie vision and to support our economy in the 21st century.