Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will make my presentation in French, but I will answer questions in English when they come to me in that second language.
First of all, I would like to make a comment on backyard farms. It was said that backyard farms were a problem because they were a reservoir of a number of pathogens. However, research has shown that backyard farms aren't a major risk factor for avian influenza if there is no epidemiological link between the backyard farm and commercial farms. In France, research has been done that shows the opposite, that is to say that it is often the commercial farms that will infect the backyard farm, in terms of avian influenza.
I sent the committee a sheet containing a number of points, but I'll highlight just a few. The first is the need for standards for new construction, new farms. You can erect a new building 30, 50 or 60 metres from another on the same site, but in the case of a new farm, it's important not to erect a building next to an existing building, which would increase regional density.
Countries like Italy and Australia have measures in place, and that's what Canada lacks. We need a centralized computer system linking the provincial and federal laboratories. More or less, it's important to control these diseases, whether it's highly pathogenic avian influenza or African swine fever, among others. It's a question of communication and rapid intervention. That's why the information must be computerized and available to people, who can use it to react.
We also need data banks in Canada, not only for reportable diseases, but also for endemic diseases that we want to eradicate or limit as much as possible. These aren't reportable diseases, but it would be important for Canada to have these shared information banks.
We often talk about the “one health” approach, which involves a number of players, including the Public Health Agency of Canada. The people at the agency are very well-intentioned, but they aren't familiar with the animal industries. It's a problem. If a pathogen like H5N1 avian influenza becomes zoonotic, the agency has to be on the front line. The problem is that it often lacks the information it needs to make sound decisions. We really need to work on that. Between that agency and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, for example, industries need to work better together in the preparation of such zoonotic diseases.
We need to invest in technologies to increase compliance, which was mentioned by the people on the first panel. We're familiar with biosecurity measures, but a number of data from around the world show that there is a lack of compliance. We need to invest in technologies to increase that.
I was able to raise $126,000 U.S. The United States sought me out and asked me to invest in it. The same project didn't even go beyond the letter of intent stage in Canada. There's a gap. We need to find ways to increase compliance, because human nature is such that, in general, we don't always follow the rules.
There's an absence of structures to supervise non-quota commercial farms. That's a problem right now. We've seen it with the conversion of buildings used for hog farming to duck farming. It's a problem in the east and, in the west, we have colonies with different species in the same place. We really need to look at these factors, because they're important, not only for poultry, but for other animal species too.
The main problem will be to increase biosecurity on the farm and to have a regional perspective.