Agriculture committee  I was going to say that the intent of the bill on the plant breeders' rights is to honour the rights of the breeder. The intent is not to seek out producers or farmers, and it's not a witch hunt. I think a lot of it goes back to intent. If the bill is followed with that spirit,

Agriculture committee  They certainly are.

Agriculture committee  From our end, we've been requesting that we change the PBR amendments specifically since 2005. From our perspective, it's a long time coming and we're very appreciative that it's moving forward. I would have to agree with our friends from the Pork Council that it should be done i

Agriculture committee  We have 3,800 companies across the country, of which 800 are primary producers in the nursery, Christmas tree, and turf-producing sectors, so that's primary production of ornamental products, mostly rooted or woody ornamentals.

Agriculture committee  It's not so much that they're not helpful, but the old PBR is limiting, especially when our biggest trading partners are under the new conventions. It restricts material to us, and of course, it protects us less anywhere else outside of Canada. I think it's just beneficial fro

Agriculture committee  Right now, it would be the U.S., the Netherlands, and western Europe, such as Germany. They're our biggest competitors for ornamental products, but within North America, it's the U.S. They already have a lot of competitive advantages over us, including labour costs, so this is de

Agriculture committee  I think if the bill is not passed or the plant breeders' rights aren't amended, it will affect our industry's ability to invest and incentivize industry to put more into plant breeders research, simply because the level of protection allows us to trade and bring in varieties as w

Agriculture committee  From our sector, the old rules weren't really helpful to get industry to invest in new varieties simply because the vast majority of the world, 71% of the countries that are following UPOV, are following UPOV 91. It would be very difficult for them to get products in here from th

Agriculture committee  Sure. I was just saying that it does help incentivize industry to invest because there is protection and there is a return on the investment to do so. Right now Canadian hardy products in ornamentals are quite successful in Europe, and we have good research programs with Vinela

Agriculture committee  I'll use the example of roses, which is the one I'm most familiar with since I am responsible for our program in Canada. We've been working—and before us it was the federal government actually—on a program for breeding strong hardy roses. With the help of Vineland, which is doing

Agriculture committee  Good day, my name is Victor Santacruz. I am the executive director of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, a national trade organization representing over 3,800 member companies engaged in the ornamental horticulture industry. Specifically, our sector represents the nurser

Human Resources committee  I looked at trends, and right now there are a couple. They have a program in the Paris area, where the ministry of education got together with industry, and they actually have a green day. It means the ministry pays for buses and industry provides access to retail garden centre

Human Resources committee  First of all, thank you for encouraging your son to take landscape architecture. That's always great. I don't think we have enough time to discuss how we can do all of that, but I think a lot of it is education. If we think about a lot of skilled labour, in many cases we depe

Human Resources committee  Starting off with the agricultural and nursery colleges, we have a few. Olds College, in Alberta, is just outside Calgary. We have Guelph University for agriculture and nursery programs, and the rest are colleges within Toronto. But most of them tend to be rural or semi-rural, no

Human Resources committee  I can add to that. I think you managed to answer the question very directly. Yes, it would help, but it's a short-term solution for us.