Agriculture committee  I think it's awareness and communication. I mentioned that in my presentation. The exciting technology going on right at the farm level, whether it's precision-based seeding, whether it's fertilizing exactly where the seed and the crop needs it, whether it's GPS-guided tractors,

Agriculture committee  I'll start, since my red light is on. One of the things that our member companies have is a very strong student program. They hire first-year students and second-year students out of agriculture programs—whether from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, or Ontario, through McGill or

Agriculture committee  One of the key things in the whole discovery process is a vision of where you want to be before you even start the discovery phase and the collaboration. What end product do you want to have, and what are the attributes of that product? One of the areas that CropLife, through i

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  Well, certainly--I'm reaching that demographic quickly--there's becoming a big gap in the amount of research capacity in Canada, at the government level, from a scientist basis at the research institutions, at the universities, as well as within my own members. We're focusing on

Agriculture committee  You're quite right. One of the gaps we see--and I see when I'm working with farmers and farm communities--is the lack of, or not enough, transfer technology, whether it's from our industry or academia through the university system. There's a gap between taking that innovation and

Agriculture committee  Historically, one of the major gaps in Canada in pest control has been developing products for what we call minor crops. These would be crops where the market size might not be sufficient to compel a company to invest the $200 million that's required. These are crops like cranber

Agriculture committee  I think there are a couple of avenues that really work well in that regard. A lot of it is communication and making sure that partnerships are established, whether it's with academia through the university system, or through government research institutions. That communication am

Agriculture committee  There are research collaborations that are formalized, especially between universities and our industry, to develop certain technologies. In that instance, innovation typically takes place at the university, and then it's sold or shared with the industry to help commercialize, be

Agriculture committee  Absolutely we would support those programs that are in place and the potential solutions that have been brought forward. We see, as the main cornerstone in innovation, a regulatory system in place that not only establishes science-based principles but enables new products, new

Agriculture committee  Typically, CropLife member companies are publicly traded. We range from large companies to very small Canadian-based ones, but typically those are investments that they make as corporations. I'm not able to give you many more comments on those types of companies. But an enablin

Agriculture committee  Good afternoon, and thank you for the invitation to be here today. My name is Peter MacLeod. I am the vice-president of chemistry at CropLife Canada. With me today is my colleague Dennis Prouse, CropLife Canada's vice-president of government affairs. CropLife Canada is the

Environment committee  I'll pass it over to my colleague.

Environment committee  I'm from Prince Edward Island, as I mentioned. I have been involved with this fish kill issue for quite some time. Prince Edward Island is a unique environment. There are literally streams, rivers, and brooks in just about every square inch of the province, as well as rolling h

Environment committee  If I may add one thing, we have no problem with people who are ready to choose. If they want to choose to not use a product for their lawn, if they don't see value in that, it's perfectly fine. Usually, where we get involved is when there's misinformation about why that is. If th