The following statement was issued by the Honourable Kevin O�Brien, Minister of Business. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

Congratulations to ACE Memorial on Participation in Global Competition

I rise today to congratulate a group of 15 young entrepreneurs from ACE Memorial, who recently represented Canada at the International Students in Free Enterprise Cup in Paris, France.

This world class event brings together teams from universities around the globe to showcase their outreach projects and the impact they have had on their communities. More than 1,000 people attended the competition hosted by Students in Free Enterprise, which is a global non-profit organization that mobilizes university students to create economic opportunity for others while discovering their own potential.

The ACE Memorial team won the right to represent Canada in May 2006 at the ACE National Exposition in Toronto, where the group from ACE Memorial was named the �Most Enterprising Campus� in Canada. The competition included 42 teams representing all 10 provinces; and groups were evaluated on their success at creating economic opportunity through the projects they carried out.

The international competition held in Paris, France, included teams from 48 different countries, and a judging contingency that included some of the world�s top CEOs. The ACE Memorial team represented Canada extremely well, making it to the semi-finals, where they were edged out by China, the team that went on to win the championship.

Since its inception in 1992, ACE Memorial, which stands for Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship, has grown to be one of the strongest teams in the ACE organization nation wide. ACE Memorial encourages young entrepreneurs to create brighter futures for themselves and their communities by practicing and teaching others the principles and values of entrepreneurship and market economics. The Provincial Government was proud to provide financial support to this exceptional group of young adults, assisting them to compete on both a national and international level.

In particular, ACE Memorial has over 60 active members who have contributed 4,397 volunteer hours to 21 different projects in the past year, helping elementary, high school, and post-secondary students, new Canadians, at-risk youth and small business owners. Key projects ACE Memorial completed when preparing for the competitions included �STEPS � Shifting to Entrepreneurial Power and Success�, a day long conference, delivered to Bell Island high school students, aimed at inspiring young adults to create opportunities in their communities. Another project was called �Transatlantic Consultants�, where 10 Newfoundland based businesses teamed up with students from the Memorial University Harlow Campus to assist with conducting market research, developing partnerships and researching potential mergers.

I would like to acknowledge the team from ACE Memorial for the hard work and dedication they exhibited when preparing for competition. I am very pleased to congratulate the team for representing their university, their province, and their country extremely well on an international stage.

2006 11 28                              1:45 p.m.