International Trade committee  Our industry has grown on the basis of exports to those countries.

International Trade committee  I would echo Cam's remarks in terms of the environmental impacts of modern agriculture, as compared to people's view of farmers and the farm community wearing overalls and being in the past. Canola specifically has resulted in an almost complete reduction in tillage practices that disturbed the soil.

International Trade committee  The number we reference for the canola industry, the $780-million additional income into the sector, was done from a general equilibrium model analysis that we then took back to work with our processors and exporters to validate that economic model.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  Perhaps I could comment on behalf of the canola industry. Over the last few years, the canola processing industry has invested over $1.5 billion in establishing plants across Canada. We have plants in places like Yorkton, Saskatchewan; Lethbridge, Alberta; and Clavet, Saskatchewan.

International Trade committee  If I could, for a minute...?

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee. It's a real pleasure to be here today to talk with you about the Trans-Pacific Partnership and what it means to the canola industry. Canola is made in Canada, but our success really depends on international trade.

Agriculture committee  Life science companies' ability to capture value from their investments is critical to the success of the industry. I can't comment specifically on UPOV 91, but that element has been very critical to the new varieties that have been developed, to the industry's ability to combat diseases, to improving yields, and to improving oil quality.

Agriculture committee  We were very active in discussions leading up to the conclusion of CETA. Europe is a significant biofuel market for us, so anything we do to increase yield, we can put oil into Europe for biofuel. As you're well aware, European consumers are not too accepting of genetically enhanced crops so the regulatory process over there is a significant challenge.

Agriculture committee  It's still a significant challenge. There have been very interesting discussions publicly. There was one U.K. minister who advocated on behalf of genetically modified crops, which would have been practically unheard of years before, and fairly significant activists have come out in support of genetically enhanced crops now.

Agriculture committee  The important thing is that farmers can produce profitably. When you're looking at needing to get what we would perhaps call a conventional crop into the marketplace, the yield differences that Mr. Hoback referred to earlier would be a significant difference in profitability for farmers.

Agriculture committee  Do we have any suggestions on the transportation system, is that what you're asking?

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  Historically the Canola Council hasn't been very involved in the transportation discussion. Our members have been through the Western Grain Elevator Association or the Canadian Canola Growers Association. Certainly with the launch of this strategy and what is a fairly significant goal, our board of directors is becoming more and more engaged in this.

Agriculture committee  Actually canola is very beneficial to bees. We have done a lot of work as an organization. We worked with grower associations, and we worked with CropLife. We've also worked with the honey producer organizations themselves to talk about how canola interacts with the bee community and the impacts of neonics.