As Dr. Bedard‑Haughn mentioned earlier, better monitoring and access to databases are needed. That can be problematic. It's very difficult to negotiate that, because private data, particularly on farms, are not consistent. In addition, they can also be subject to significant financial interests and even put the health of a business at risk. A neighbour or another company could learn about a company's financial situation because of certain parameters that could be revealing. We have a lot of problems with the use of available business data, so we need to have access to independent data sets and monitoring programs. These programs were put in place in the 1990s, including the establishment of benchmark plots. I think we should continue to support them.
I know that the federal government supports national programs, including those related to Agriculture and Agri‑Food Canada researchers and through various research funding programs. However, in terms of monitoring soil health, it was limited to certain indices. I emphasize soil compaction, but that isn't the only problem. There is also the loss of biodiversity, pesticide contamination, loss of organic matter and erosion, to name a few. There are a number of issues, and they've all been raised before.
As for the future of future generations, the most serious issue, which isn't addressed here, is the famous conservation policies for the production area, that is to say the laws and regulations on agricultural zoning. It's all well and good to try to reduce the deterioration of soil health, but we must understand that there is also a deterioration in the production area. Globally, only 2.5% of Quebec's land is cultivated. In Ontario, it's 5%. If we want to guarantee our food self‑sufficiency, we can only produce our food on limited areas that cannot be significantly expanded. This issue also threatens the food self‑sufficiency of Canadians and the future of the nation.