Mr. Speaker, yesterday in my home town of Winnipeg the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council joined with the Conference Board of Canada to award six Synergy Awards for outstanding university-industry-R and D partnerships. These awards salute the success of Canadian companies working with university researchers to leverage this country's innovation strengths.
One of the winners was in my city. The University of Manitoba and Calgary based Canadian Bio-Systems Inc. earned their award for their joint efforts in improving enzymes added to animal feed. The enzymes help animals absorb more nutrients from every kilogram of feed, allowing farmers to raise healthier animals for less money and passing both quality and savings on to the Canadian consumer.
This research, I understand, allows farmers a more natural way of dealing with animal feed challenges, a way that is safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly. I have been told that the long run goal of this research is to phase out antibiotics in the feed with “prebiotics”, natural enzymes that enhance the animal's immune system.