Mr. Speaker, if I could give this speech a title, it would be called, “And Now For Something A Little Different”.
What I would like to look at tonight is found under division 4, clause 127, of the bill which is, “Payments to Certain Entities or for Certain Purposes”, specifically Genome Canada. Many of my colleagues in the House know that I spent part of my career prior to politics in the world of academic research administration and I had the opportunity to work with some projects that were funded by Genome Canada.
I was really encouraged to see in the budget bill and, subsequently, the bill we are discussing tonight, an additional $165 million in multi-year support for genomic research through Genome Canada. This funding would enable Genome Canada to launch new large-scale research competitions over the next three years, support continued participation by Canadian genomics researchers in national and international partnership initiatives and maintain Genome Canada's operations and the operations of regional Genome centres and science and technology innovative centres until the end of 2016-17.
I do not think a lot of people are aware of the mandate of Genome Canada, as well as the field of genomics research itself. I certainly cannot profess to be an expert in the content of the research, but the impact of the research is so far reaching and affects so many different sectors of industry, such as environmental health and the health of our populations, that it is worth taking notice of during this debate. It is a substantive sum of money for this organization.
I apologize to my colleagues for borrowing heavily from Wikipedia and the Genome Canada website tonight in my speech, but, as a bit of background, the field of genomics is one that applies recombinant DNA, DNA sequencing methods and bioinformatics to sequence, assemble and analyze the function and structure of genomes. The field includes efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping.
Again, as I have seen the work that Genome Canada has done, even on the periphery as a research administrator, the impact that the projects it has funded have already had on different sectors of the economy has amazed me. It is also working with some of the key questions that some of our industries wrestle with, such as how we can increase productivity using this technology, how we can produce products in a more environmentally-sustainable way, how we can clean up the environment and how we can make our populations more healthy. All these questions are being addressed in the Genome Canada centres located across the country, which I will speak to in a little more detail. This is an amount of funding that impacts everyone in this place because every region of Canada I believe has a Genome Canada centre that is doing work within the regions.
Genome Canada is a not-for-profit corporation established to accelerate Canadian research capacity in genomics. Genome Canada is a catalyst for developing and applying genomic sciences that create economic wealth and social benefit for Canadians. It works in partnership to invest in and manage large-scale research and translate discoveries into commercial opportunities, new technologies, applications and solutions. It builds bridges between government, academia and industry to forge a genomics-based public-private innovation focused on key life science sectors.
Together with its six Genome Centres and other partners, Genome Canada invests in and manages large-scale research projects in key selected areas. Genome Canada also supports research programs aimed at studying and analyzing the ethical, environmental, economic, legal and social issues related to genomics research. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, five science and technology innovation centres with cutting-edge technical capabilities have been put in place across Canada to support large-scale projects.
What is really neat about the funding model for Genome Canada is that while our funding agreement states that the Government of Canada provide 50% of the funding, Genome Canada actually leverages this funding on a 1:1 basis. Therefore, it has to find 50% of matching funds to push its programs forward. We have seen a leverage fund take the research forward even further.
The partnerships that Genome Canada has built, not just with the academic community but with industry, is a model that we should be looking at in how to bridge the technology gap, taking research from the bench and translating it out to the public, but also ensuring that, where possible, we are addressing the concerns of industry, communities, et cetera, in research and acknowledging the need for basic research. There is a lot of basic research funded through Genome Canada's applications as well.
I mentioned earlier that there were Genome Canada centres across the country. There is one in British Columbia, Alberta and the Prairies. There is an Ontario Genomics Institute. There is one in Quebec, as well as one in Atlantic Canada. This is a centre that has impacts across the country and funds projects in many of my colleagues' ridings, if they have a university in their riding. Many of their industrial partners in their high-tech sectors or life sciences sectors may have projects with this organization as well.
Given that I am the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment, I have been keenly interested in some of the projects they have been working on with regard to environmental technologies. I would like to read some of this for my colleagues, so they can have an understanding of some of the environmental background work that Genome Canada is doing in this area. Here is a quick excerpt:
Micro organisms such as cyanobacteria, which have minimal nutrient requirements, use electrons from water and the energy of sunlight when they convert atmospheric CO2 into organic compounds. What's more, they do so without producing greenhouse gases. Genomics can tap the accumulated wisdom of hundred of millions of years of evolution. The opportunities for developing biotechnology solutions to the challenge of climate change will be greatly enhanced when we will understand the molecular biology of plants and micro organisms such as bacteria and algae.
There is a really neat piece on the Genome Canada website about some of the work that it does with regard to environmental technology. I invite my colleagues to take a look at this, because some really fascinating projects are going on across the country in this area.
I would like to mention a few tonight, just so my colleagues have an understanding of the impact this funding is going to have on research in this area. It is going take place across the country.
I would remiss if I did not mention Dr. Gerrit Voordouw at the University of Calgary, who has a phenomenal project that deals with hydrocarbon metagenomics. Basically this research is developing biotechnology that will reduce the environmental impact of oil sands operations and make hydrocarbon energy extraction more efficient.
The technology that is coming out of this lab is incredible. It is cutting edge, and to be honest, the field of genomics is a field in which Canadian researchers punch above their weight internationally. We have such a wealth of research capacity in this field and this funding will help continue that excellence into the future.
Also, because it is a leverage funding program, it is encouraging industry partnerships to take place so we grow the receptor capacity for these technologies as we go into the future.
I have a couple of other examples from across the country. Dr. Adrian Tsang at Concordia University in Montreal and his group of researchers are working a really neat technology, isolating enzymes that could replace the harsh chemicals currently used in pulping and bleaching. He is working with fungal enzymes, which digest the brown lignin in wood, leaving the white cellulose behind for use in making paper.
Going back again to the petroleum sector, we have the president of the Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada just recently said in a news article that genomics was one of the areas in which his industry was looking to develop breakthrough technologies. These are the game changers that help make industry both more productive and more environmentally sound. Some of the technologies that it is looking to develop might include engineering microbes to remove hydrogen sulphide from sour natural gas or to facilitate environmental cleanup.
Also in a couple of different areas, Genome Canada has funded the British Columbia Cancer Centre, which sequenced the SARS virus genome in 2003. It has also funded the Centre for Applied Genomics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, which in 2010 published genetic variants associated with autism.
To the point I made earlier about how Canada punches above its weight, Dr. Steven Scherer, director of the Toronto centre, talks about how Canada has leapfrogged ahead in its international standing since the field of genomics science has been developed.
What I want to leave my colleagues tonight is there are very good pieces of funding within the budget bill. We also have over $300 million dedicated to Sustainable Development Technology Canada, which its president was very supportive of after the budget bill was tabled.
It is these sorts of innovative technologies, including increased funding for our tri-council Agencies, as well as the Canada Foundation for Innovation, which will ensure we continue to have excellence in Canada's research fields. I certainly hope people will look at the field of genomics research and vote in support of the budget, specifically because of this clause.