Yes, Mr. Chair.
I thank the witnesses for joining us today.
I find some of the information on your website interesting. I would like to share one piece of information in particular with my parliamentary colleagues.
Mr. Petelle, while many sectors are contributing to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, your industry is using plant science innovations to reduce those emissions by nearly 30 million tonnes per year. Well done! That's really great. In addition, your industry contributes to the creation of nearly 131,000 jobs in Canada. Congratulations. Those statistics are very noteworthy.
I would like to briefly talk to you about research and development. In Canada, resources are becoming increasingly limited. The number of emerging countries is increasing, and many countries want to take advantage of the situation.
We talked about innovation earlier. What do you think about public investments in research and development to help your industry? Are they sufficient? Would you like to see more in terms of investments? Could that approach ensure better productivity and competitiveness of your industry?
Mr. Petelle, you can start, and Ms. Thomas could also comment if there is time.
I will then yield the floor to my colleague Mr. Saini.