It's a very interesting and exciting idea to bring forward at this time, because we have 15 years of experience with genetically engineered crops.
The Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee was established by the Canadian biotechnology strategy, which also will soon have an anniversary. It was initially created in 1983.
Certainly dialogue can be had and can be extraordinarily productive. As you said, there are so many complex issues, and individual regulatory agencies can't necessarily deal with them. It makes sense to have a broader debate, a broader exchange, and to hear from communities of people. One of the issues is how to constitute a committee so that it is a good environment for such dialogue.
That was one of the critiques of the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee. It was roundly critiqued as being biased toward industry, as it happens, and the constitution of the committee was also contested. There were a lot of issues that made it difficult for the committee to function properly or function as it could have in its full potential. That was also reflected in the government investment in the committee into the future, and why it has sort of trickled down to nothing in 2004.
Now, when we're faced with these complex issues, there is no forum to bring parties together inside government. It was an arm's length committee.