[dennis1]

http://www.insidehalton.com/what's%2...ng-arts-centre

Before an appreciative crowd, Prime Minister Stephen Harper opened the Burlington Performing Arts Centre with a flourish Friday saying, “I am very pleased and proud that our government was able to contribute to this great partnership.”

The prime minister gave credit to Burlington MP Mike Wallace — who introduced him to the crowd — for helping to spearhead the project, noting that the Conservative parliamentarian, while a city councillor in 1999, started a local committee to get it off the ground.

“I know you’ve worked on this for more than a decade … and you certainly have championed it persistently and persuasively since you came to Ottawa in 2006. I know that’s a bit of a victory, so congratulations to you,” said Harper.

Mayor Rick Goldring also called Wallace, the “straw that stirred the drink,” but hearty congratulations from Harper, Wallace and Goldring also went out to volunteers, community members and all those who worked hard over the years to donate their time and money to get the $41-million facility built.

Harper defended the federal government’s investment of $4.5 million, despite a worldwide economic recession and unprecedented levels of debt and deficit.