Agriculture committee  I think generally farmers understand the need for intellectual property and understand how the system works and what the shortfalls are, in some cases, with our system. In Ontario I think it's probably the case that there is more of a recognition, because when we had higher uses

Agriculture committee  Looking at the size of our taxpayer base here in Canada versus the U.S., I think we have to be more strategic.

Agriculture committee  Yes. Primarily it comes back to the issue of farm-safe seed sowed. Again, my background with SeCan--we're a private, not-for-profit corporation, and we sometimes joke that it's a good thing we're not-for-profit because there just isn't a lot of profit there in cereals. We distri

Agriculture committee  I could take the first crack at it. I know we'll never be able to compete with the U.S. based on the amount of dollars we can throw at agriculture, so I think we have to be smarter in the way we help the industry. That's part of the reason for one of the things we've suggested, a

Agriculture committee  In Canada, canola is by far number one, and largely because there's the ability for companies to sell seed, which in turn is due in part to the enhanced intellectual property protection, because there are patented traits involved and so on. So companies can actually get a return

Agriculture committee  The 39% investment by the private sector is all of our member companies combined. So some of that would be multinational corporations that are investing within Canada, as well as smaller independent companies.

Agriculture committee  First, I would just like to clarify that the Canadian Seed Trade Association makes no claims about transgenic being any better than conventional varieties. Our members are actively involved in producing and distributing and selling both transgenic and non-transgenic varieties. Fu

Agriculture committee  First, I'd just like to say that we support the system we have in Canada of a science-based regulatory system. That system is one where we don't prejudge the marketability of a product based on other factors, non-science-based factors. I can't comment specifically on the instan

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, and thank you for the opportunity to present again today to the committee. I'd like to note as well that we've made a formal submission in both official languages. That's been presented. First, I have a few words about the Canadian Seed Trade Association. W

Agriculture committee  Sure. To my knowledge, Canada has been the only jurisdiction in the world that has used KVD, or kernel visual distinguishability; for a variety to be registered and fit into a certain class, it has to look a certain way. As time has gone on, that's had the effect of essentially

Agriculture committee  It's certainly been a burden for western Canada for many decades, I think. As I say, we had the fortune of eliminating that in eastern Canada in 1989, and within a very short period of time we saw substantial increases in yield. As we indicated in our submission, in the last 15 y

Agriculture committee  The rationale for kernel visual distinguishability was to facilitate grain segregation and thus make it easy to recognize a Canadian western red spring versus a CPS type, for example, at the elevator. It was really driven by the desire to have something very easy to segregate in

Agriculture committee  I think there has just been a general reluctance to change, but over time I think most organizations are recognizing that the cost is just too great, particularly when we can now see the benefit of high-yielding ethanol- and feed-type wheats. I would say there has been a general

Agriculture committee  In terms of your first question on where the money is going to come from and so on, I think what we have before us right now is maybe an opportunity in that we have seen significant appreciation in commodity prices, largely because of this fuel--ethanol--situation pulling acres o

Agriculture committee  Thanks for your question. First of all, I believe that farmers will only adopt, and should only adopt, new technology if it either decreases their cost of production or increases their profitability. I think everyone in the seed industry in Canada would agree with that. Really,