Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
It's also my pleasure to be here today to address the standing committee on the Growing Forward plan for agriculture in Canada, and specifically to address the chapter on innovation and science.
I'm joined today by Dr. David Dennis, who is the CEO and president of Performance Plants. He will be completing my remarks.
BIOTECanada is the national association representing over 200 companies working in the broad spectrum of biotechnology across the agricultural, health, and industrial sectors. We are also proud to say that we are the most innovative industry in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, in 2005 biotechnology R and D accounted for 12% of Canada's total business-related R and D. That was the highest single sector in the country.
We have been pleased as an organization and as a community of companies to be engaged with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada throughout the past year as they have consulted on the Growing Forward initiative. Our members believe that Growing Forward does provide a strong opportunity to move the Canadian agricultural sector to new heights of productivity and profitability.
The members of the committee are well aware that Canada is a global leader in the adoption of agricultural biotechnology. Agricultural biotechnology has led to reduced herbicide and insecticide use in our agricultural environments and has led to an increase in environmentally friendly activities, like no till. Our farmers are becoming aware of the growing advances for biofuels and industrial uses for our crops.
We're here to tell you today that this is just the beginning of what biotechnology is going to bring to Canadian agriculture, that great things are happening, and that biotechnology will allow Canadian farmers to adapt to new global markets, changes in our climate, and changes in consumer demands. This innovation is happening from coast to coast, in all provinces, and it's happening in small, medium, and multinational companies.
A key message that we'd like to leave with you today is that the government does have a role in continuing to help our companies and our farmers innovate and compete globally in order to add high-value jobs to our rural communities and strengthen investment in our small towns and villages. The strong support for innovation found in Growing Forward, if fully realized, will allow Canada to continue to be a global leader.
We have distributed to you a slide deck that contains some great examples of innovation happening across the country. I'd just like to briefly mention a couple of those. Our first example comes from Summerland, British Columbia, where Okanagan Specialty Fruits is working in partnership with Agriculture Canada scientists to develop varieties of apples and pears that do not brown when you slice them. If you think of your kids' lunch boxes, this would be a great thing: you can provide them with sliced apples so that they actually eat the apples instead of throwing them in the trash can or trading them with their friends for candy bars. Providing an opportunity for a more convenient healthy snack is going to align with a lot of our societal goals for healthy living and fighting obesity. We're really pleased that Okanagan Specialty Fruits is doing something about this type of issue.
Secondly, I'd like to move to Bellevue, Ontario, where Bioniche Life Sciences is currently commercializing a vaccine against E. coli 0157H7. This bacterium, we know, is a devastating health crisis in the meat industry and for consumers. Bioniche has currently received preliminary approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to market this stunning advance in animal health.
Multinational companies have been investing in technology to develop canola and soybean varieties that contain healthier oils that can help our restaurants and food manufacturers replace trans fats with healthier oils and help all of us be more heart healthy. It's from that investment in that research and the ability to commercialize and market those new varieties of soybean and canola that we will all benefit, not to mention the farmers who get a premium for growing those varieties.
Those are a few examples of what we can accomplish, but there are a couple more that are also quite interesting. Many people know about SemBioSys of Calgary, which is currently commercializing university research that will allow them to grow a small acreage of crops that can supply a significant portion of the global need for insulin. This is a tremendous opportunity for a new use for the adoption of Canadian technology for a serious health crisis.
Stirling Products of Prince Edward Island is developing technology that came out of the University of Prince Edward Island to develop a new type of growth-promoting product that uses yeast extracts to replace the need for hormones and antibiotics in animal feed.
Finally, companies like DuPont and Pioneer Hi-Bred are working to bring what we know in Canada as the bio-refinery concept to fruition by taking corn and turning it into carpeting, clothing, and even a de-icing solution.
These are just some of the advances in technology we see moving forward. What are we asking the government to do in promoting this new technology? First, we need a regulatory system that is grounded in science, predictable, and can adapt to new technological advances. We're pleased to see that Growing Forward contains a strong message about the need to modernize our regulatory system.
The industry is doing its part too. Our member companies have agreed, through our product launch stewardship policy, that we will not commercialize a new product in Canada before receiving regulatory approval in our major trading partners.
A regulatory system also needs to have sufficient resources so that applications and submissions can be processed in a timely manner.
Finally, I'll echo the comments of my colleague Jeff Reid: Canada needs to maintain a strong and predictable intellectual property regime for agricultural products.
In conclusion, Growing Forward represents a strong, positive message for innovation and science in Canada, and we believe that the innovations under development in our biotechnology companies can add a great deal of profitability and productivity to Canadian farms.
I'd now like to turn it over to my colleague Dave Dennis, who will tell you about a specific example of Canadian technology that's being used globally to advance agriculture.