Environment committee  There's one thing I might add. This is now being discussed internationally about taking a holistic landscape approach. I just returned from an international meeting in Kenya, where they're talking about the same type of thing, how to blend all of the values together to look at managing the landscape, rather than looking at it in silos.

Environment committee  The other component of research would be taking a look at how to use existing agricultural waste to generate energy. That gets away from that whole food-versus-fuel debate. There's all kinds of product that is not even used. Farmers have agricultural waste that could be used for generating renewable energy.

Environment committee  I have just a couple of things to say on that. I think some of the incentives for water storage and water diversion are the types of investments that pay big dividends.

Environment committee  The recommendation to the report would be to have a funded program to take a look at water retention and water diversion. They both go hand in hand. I'll give you an example. In southwestern Ontario in the Norfolk sand plain a few years ago they were having serious problems with drought and they put a program in place where they provided incentives for farmers to provide off-stream storage for water.

Environment committee  My first thought is to really take a look at innovation research into plant and animal research. One of the things we're looking at as we go forward is how do we increase productivity on our land base? A lot of that is going to be done by having better plants and animals. Where we've come in the last number of years with understanding the genome....

Environment committee  Yes, the changes to the Fisheries Act have a large amount of support. I actually received a number of phone calls from farmers concerned about the complicated process for just getting drain maintenance approved in the past, because of the multi-layers. You'd have the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, sometimes the Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario or the Ministry of Environment, plus local conservation authorities.

Environment committee  I think renewable energy is a piece of it. One of the things that I think we're starting to see is that technology is changing very quickly. If I take a look on-farm at the types of projects that are going on now.... On our own farm we've put some solar panels in place, but a lot of farms are putting methane digesters in place now.

Environment committee  I just jotted down two or three things. First is research. I think, definitely, on the whole energy side, there's going to be an ongoing need for research and innovation. The next thing is looking at tax policy to encourage private investment. I have another story I could tell you about Revenue Canada.

Environment committee  There would be a certain amount of “show me the money”. I think what we're finding is that farmers are starting to see some of the benefits--as I said, the win-win situations. But often when you're moving ahead with something new or innovative, it does take some seed money to get that up and going.

Environment committee  That would actually depend on the types of priorities—if it's water issues, if it's wildlife habitat. Just to give you an example, I know that there was some legislation being proposed in Ontario about protecting certain land-based birds, and the production cost to farmers was going to be fairly high on that.

Environment committee  On moving ahead with the conservation plan—and Doug alluded to it—the first thing is establishing some of the priorities. Those priorities may be water, soil conservation, or wildlife habitat. Then the next step would be sitting down with farmers and farm groups to take a look at asking, “Okay, if these are the priorities, what can be done to enhance water quality, soil quality, or wildlife habitat?”

Environment committee  I'll give you an example. I come from the province of Ontario. When I was the Ontario Federation of Agriculture president, we had the unfortunate incident in Walkerton. Immediately following that a whole series of regulations came out because people were desperate to try to prove they were doing something.

Environment committee  Please explain what you mean by working landscape.

Environment committee  Yes, definitely. I mentioned that the agricultural land is actually where that interface takes place between urban communities and the rural landscape. That's where a lot of the concern around environmental issues takes place, because as you mentioned, the pristine landscape is basically the way it's been for close to a thousand years.

Environment committee  I would think it would be a marketing initiative, as opposed to getting involved in trying to put some complex regulations around the labels. I think it could be treated as a marketing initiative. One of the things, though, that is starting to happen is we're finding that retailers are actually starting to demand things like the carbon footprint or environmental footprint.