Agriculture committee  Absolutely. I can get you that.

Agriculture committee  I don't have our soybean numbers off the top of my head for Ontario and the rest of Canada, but since the advent of certification systems, we've seen 20% to 25% year-on-year growth, through from 2007. With the recession, we dropped to about 5% to 8%, depending on the markets. Our soybean export markets have indicated to me this winter that they're expecting that to go back up to about 12% for 2010 and on into 2011.

Agriculture committee  Yes, this has been a problem since GM canola came on board years ago and basically, in one season, decimated the organic canola industry, which was our strongest growth industry in organics at the time. It dried up our European market. So we had that wave of canola and, as I mentioned earlier, Triffid flax, which was actually pulled from the market.

Agriculture committee  In terms of the labelling costs coming back to the consumer, the organic market is already bearing the cost of its own labelling program. We provide ourselves with an internal food traceability system from seed all the way to the consumer's plate. Within 24 hours, if there's an issue, if somebody wants to know, you can find out where your food came from by tracing the system.

Agriculture committee  Did you want me to deal with the low-level piece or the corporatization? Or was that more of a statement?

Agriculture committee  With respect to the low-level presence, a number of things could happen in organics. We're being very speculative here. In the quotes that are going around about the European Union considering low-level, we're not talking about the people of Europe considering low-level acceptance.

Agriculture committee  There are two things to that. Clearly, one of the things that's held back research in the organic sector is that there's really nothing to commercialize. No input is going to come out of that. There are no pesticide or herbicide regimes. So recovering the dollars that went into the original research in a private-friendly investment environment for research isn't possible.

Agriculture committee  I just wanted to add quickly that when we see the organic markets dry up, they don't come back. We had an Ontario producer last year who sells flax to the European market who lost his organic market in 2008 when Triffid happened. The Flax Council didn't reimburse those farmers. Nobody reimbursed those farmers.

Agriculture committee  Our sector hasn't reached consensus on adventitious presence versus zero tolerance. It's something we are hotly debating among ourselves right now. Our position is that we don't want to see organic farmers losing their businesses over adventitious presence. I don't believe this sector as a whole is ready to give up on the concept that drift can be contained into the future, potentially not with the four crops we've commercialized now, but certainly as we move forward.

Agriculture committee  Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the membership of Organic Council of Ontario, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak with you about biotechnology today. Organic Council of Ontario represents the full value chain of organics in the province of Ontario, and our mandate is to grow the sector.