Legally it's obviously the province's role to educate the students. We in the university sector certainly take that responsibility very deeply. We also understand that we are a trusted source of knowledge transfer. All of our faculty are asked to do three things in their job descriptions: teach, do research, and do what we call “service.” A lot of that service is literally going out and working with people in these various industries. In our college we do that a lot. We're out on the ground.
Are we really educating consumers in the way you mean? I would say we're not good at that. We clearly need help with that. In these kinds of conversations, misunderstanding of the term “biotech” is exactly the same as misunderstanding the term “agriculture”. When you say “agriculture,” over 90% of the Canadian population see a farmer in overalls standing in the field with a pitchfork. They don't see GPS or banks. They don't see the high-tech research institutes.
It is this need for communication to the public about the matters that are the most important to them that we really have to get across. The food riots that we're seeing around the world are going to really bring that.... We have an opportunity and we need to take it, but we need to work together on that public communication.