Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
If you don't mind, I will speak in French. It will be easier for those who have to do the translation.
First of all, I would like to thank you very much for this invitation.
As you mentioned, I represent the Canadian Swine Research and Development Cluster. That company is better known as Swine Innovation Porc.
The Canadian Swine Research and Development Cluster, or Swine Innovation Porc, is an organization sponsored by the Canadian Pork Council. The Canadian Pork Council represents all hog producers in Canada, 8,000 hog producers and 10 provincial associations of hog producers. The Canadian Pork Council is a member of the Canadian Pork Value Chain, Canada Pork International and the Canadian Swine Health Board.
These are all national organizations mandated, in one respect or another, to develop pork production and products in a manner respectful of the environment and society, as well as to establish an efficient pork value chain.
The objective and mission of Swine Innovation Porc, our company, is to facilitate research, technology transfer and commercialization initiatives designed to support our partners in the Canadian Pork Value Chain.
We are currently associated with some 100 Canadian researchers from 28 different organizations, research centres, institutions and universities. They are working with us on 14 research projects. We hope that the results of those projects will make significant contributions for the 8,000 Canadian hog producers and our partners in the value chain.
To carry out its mandate, Swine Innovation Porc has partnered with two regional organizations in Canada that conduct applied research and have developed very good expertise in technology transfer. On the one hand, we have the Centre de développement du porc du Québec Inc., which has a team of professionals who serve Quebec's pork value chain. It relies on its expertise in genetics, health and building and breeding management.
On the other hand, the other partner involved in Swine Innovation Porc's efforts is the Prairie Swine Centre, which is indirectly linked to the University of Saskatchewan. The Prairie Swine Centre conducts applied research and has developed very good expertise in technology transfer.
With this team, we have established a program of research projects to transfer findings to our producers.
Now I will present our four findings or messages in what little time we have.
The first message concerns innovation. The data confirm that agricultural research can produce very positive results in terms of economic drivers and economic activity. We are convinced of the importance of science and innovation and of the importance of investing in research.
We are also convinced that research must be balanced, that is to say that research must cover all aspects of production. It must address society's issues and the needs of consumers. We must ensure that we have a dynamic and efficient pork value chain. The strategic aspects of research must be balanced to enable an industry to develop and respond to the expectations of society, consumers and customers.
The second message is important. I must emphasize—and this is to your credit—that we are very satisfied with the strategic framework established for agriculture entitled Growing Forward, which is a support program for the initiatives of agri-science clusters. That program is in response to a request that we made of the Canadian government, and we are very pleased with it. With the funding obtained through the program, we have managed to involve a number of researchers. There are a lot of researchers in Canada, but research is somewhat scattered. We, the producers, or the users, the industry, need to get the best researchers in Canada. It's important to get them to work together. I believe we have been successful in that regard.
We have called upon 28 research institutions, universities and Agriculture Canada research centres for their expertise. One hundred researchers are collaborating with us and are active on 14 research projects. It is interesting to note that at least two universities are involved in all those research projects. That means that, even though certain researchers tend to work in isolation in certain cases, we have managed to have the others work in collaboration. Synergies have been created as a result of the collaboration among researchers from various universities and regions in Canada. We have managed to make our researchers work as a team. That is also the case of Agriculture Canada's research centres because eight of the 14 research projects involve at least one Agriculture Canada researcher together with one or more university researchers.
One other factor attests to this success. We have managed to interest other private partners in investing with us. Five provincial organizations of hog producers have invested in research projects, as well as 14 other private industry partners. We feel the objectives of this program have been achieved to the extent that we have managed to combine the strengths of everyone involved, regardless of where they are in Canada, and to interest various private partners.
There is a third message that I would like to add. In research, there is no point in generating new scientific knowledge if we are unable to transfer it quickly and efficiently to our partners. Research development serves no purpose if our competitors from other countries are faster than we are at using researching findings. This is also an important issue. For us, innovation means generating new knowledge through research, but also ensuring quick and efficient transfer. However, the expertise that can guarantee that kind of transfer is not the same. Researchers do not have it. It requires equally significant resources and the mobilization of people with other types of profiles. In addition, everyone has to work together because we must be able to recover that knowledge as quickly and effectively as possible. This is an important factor for us.
The final message directly concerns the strategic framework entitled Growing Forward 2. We believe the agri-scientific initiatives program is a success. It is therefore important to maintain continuity and to take advantage of the favourable circumstances established through this program. We must maintain the program's continuity because its first phase worked well. We must take advantage of favourable circumstances because the response was greater than the expectations that some of you might have had of the program. Interest has been expressed and people are mobilizing; consequently, it's worthwhile to take advantage of the circumstances.
To do this, we suggest that you significantly increase the funding allocated to this program. In addition, some flexibility should be afforded to enable these scientific clusters, which form the link between the industry and the various research centres of Agriculture Canada and the universities, to do more in future.
I won't take up any more of your time, and I will be pleased to answer your questions.