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ts With Ontario universities trailâ€" ing almost every other North American jurisdiction in funding for programming, placements and in research and development, most of the participants at the redent dayâ€"long conference at the University of Waterloo said it was time for the federal government to restore funding to universities in order to close a widening innovaâ€" tion gap. And it was a message driven home by many of the conference‘s speakers, including keynote e first conference held I to define the direction of Canada‘s Innovation Strategy had one simple piece of advice for the federal government â€" it‘s time to go back to school. Conference urges feds to back higher education Looking For a New or Preâ€"owned BMW Two children elected from the conference will present these challenges to the leaders of the world at the World Summit on Susâ€" tainable Development in Johannesburg in Septemâ€" ber. Analiz Vergara from Quito, Ecuador and Justin Friesen from Halifax, NS were chosen. Both Analiz and Justin were on the junior board, a group of children who helped plan the conference. The fourth International Children‘s Conference on the Environment, supportâ€" ed by UNEP, took place at the University of Victoria in British Columbia May 21â€" hildren from around ‘ the world who attâ€" ened the Internationâ€" al Children‘s Conference on the Envoronment last month created and adoptâ€" ed challenges to the govâ€" ernments of the world to take action and save the environment. Kids make their voices heard at international environmental conference www.bâ€"kmotors.com By Resexan Parker For The Chronicle By Bos VrBANAC Chronicle Staff t Q The delegates develâ€" oped 50 challenges, which related to the four daily themes: water; climate change; healthy communiâ€" ties, healthy children; and resource conservation. Some of the challenges were: sign the Kyoto Protoâ€" col (climate change); ensure that people from developing countries all have access to clean drinkâ€" ing water and that it is equally shared (water); have clean healthy plants, animals and parks and clean up slums (healthy communities); and put a limit on how much fossil fuels we use (resource conâ€" servation). The full list of challenges can be reviewed on the 25. The 385 child delegates aged 10 â€"12, and 250 adult delegates represented over 80 countries. Each day children met in friendship groups to share their stories on their environmental projects, and to work on the chalâ€" lenges. A graduate of UW, Lazaridis called on the federal government to put science and education on an equal footing with health care, tax reduction and balanced budâ€" gets as a government priority. The billionaire entrepreneur didn‘t pull any punches calling on voters and business leaders to hold the govâ€" ernment accountable to the prinâ€" ciples that come out of the consulâ€" tative process that should yield a final report from Industry Canada by the end of the year. Lazaridis said providing adeâ€" quate funding to schools at all levâ€" els is the most effective and reliâ€" able direct investment in the sucâ€" cess of our children and the sucâ€" speaker Mike Lazaridis, CEO of Research In Motion, one of the local highâ€"tech innovators that has put Waterloo on the map as a techâ€" nology exporter. A group of Brazilian school children are helping reduce green house gas emissions by giving a tree to each baby who is born at their local hospital. So far they have planted over 2,000 trees! Another project proved that one child can make a difference. Ryan Hreljac from Ontario is raising money for wells in Africa to proâ€" vide clean water. He started when he was six with $70 and now his foundation has raised over half a milâ€" lion dollars for wells. Two boys from Germany were determined to help save the ancient forests of the world. They were a part of the Schools for Ancient Forests project. When their school wanted to buy furniâ€" ture, they asked where the wood came from and conference website at www.iccCanada2002.org. The delegates inspired each other by their dedicaâ€" tion and ideas. Every mornâ€" ing children would present their projects. PAGE 3 "We have some catching up to do," said Lazaridis. "Canada ranks 15th in how much we spend on research and development â€" we can do better." cess of Canada as a nation. He said funding for education has been "mislabelled as an expense," when instead it should be considered an investment in the future. "We have some catching up to do. Canada ranks 15th in how much we spend on research and development â€" we can do better" By doubling its investment in Research In Motion CEO This was a great examâ€" ple of thinking globally, but acting locally. The next conference will be in 2003 in New London, Connecticut. I‘m hoping refused to buy wooden furâ€" niture made from old Rebekah Parker, a Grade 6 student at Elizabeth Ziegler school in Waterloo, was the Ontario representative at the International Children‘s Conference on the Environment It‘s that type of forward thinkâ€" ing that has been behind RIM‘s success over the past decade, said Lazaridis. He said some of the feaâ€" tures of the BlackBerry pager, which made the Waterlooâ€"based company a leader in wireless comâ€" munication, came from its comâ€" mitment to research and developâ€" ment. And research and development continues to drive the company‘s growth, with more than six differâ€" ent research labs contained within its Columbia Street headquarters. Lazaridis related how the corpoâ€" rate culture at RIM is set up to take research and development, Lazaridis argued that it will spur research in both established and emerging sectors of the economy, and push Canada into the top five technology innovative countries around the world. more kids will recognize the importance of environâ€" mental issues in the world today and make their voicâ€" es heard. All around the world, kids are taking action. It‘s time for us to take more action in Waterioo region. "Much of the innovation that occurs at Research In Motion has happened for talented, wellâ€" trained and inspired graduates who have transformed the way we design products, develop software, manage our company and our finances, run our quality assurâ€" ance programs, manufacture our products and market them around the world," he said. A lot of that wouldn‘t have hapâ€" pened without the qualified gradâ€" uates that are being produced by advantage of the innovation that goes on in its research departâ€" ment, and he told a story of how recent graduates have sparked changes in the products the comâ€" pany sells and the direction it takes while advancing its market Kids can make a difference. beth Ziegler School and was the Ontario representative on the junior board for International Children‘s Conference on the Environâ€" ment. Rebekah Parker is a Grade 6 student at Elizaâ€" Continued on page 6