Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I do have some insights. I think I can say proudly that one of the most successful tech transfer teams was initiated in Ontario and came about as a result of the activities of the Ontario Beekeepers' Association. That started at least 15 years ago and is still ongoing. It is an extremely valuable adjunct to the beekeeping industry in Ontario.
It was extremely powerful in its early days, and extremely useful more recently with the neonic discussions. There have been some ups and downs and people with alternative opinions, etc., coming on, so there's been a bit of debate within the organization as to how it should position itself with respect to the beekeepers in Ontario. As in all grower groups, politics can enter into it, particularly with these emotional issues.
I think Ontario can be proud, and certainly in the United States, people were looking very closely at the tech transfer team in Ontario, getting speakers from Ontario to go and say how it was done. We've seen that also followed up a little bit in Europe, with similar kudos to what we've done. As Chris says, yes, let's hope that the Atlantic provinces can put this together for more than the next 20 months. It is a great initiative that needs to be fully supported.
Alberta has an excellent tech transfer operation through its provincial apiarist. Certainly Saskatchewan is really on top of it as well, and I can say that with equal pride, because both of those provincial apiarists came through my lab. Manitoba has a very good record through the University of Manitoba and through its provincial apiarist going back a very long time, as was alluded to by Mr. Maguire
It's a really important thing, and the more we have the tech transfer teams set in place across Canada, the more we can harmonize the monitoring that is going to be so important to understanding the future of the business, not just in beekeeping but also in pollination.