Agriculture committee  It's okay.

Agriculture committee  I'll try to answer that but it will be with limited knowledge, because I'm not, perhaps, as familiar with the economics of beekeeping on either a large scale or a small scale as I should be. I definitely do believe, though, that industry producers, producer groups, are contributing in various ways to advancing the cause, if you will, whether it's through their participation in the round tables or through some of the work that we've been investing in through science clusters, which have ancillary impacts on how crops are treated.

Agriculture committee  Thank you.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. When it comes to integrated pest management—and I won't speak necessarily specifically to the treated seed—the ways they approach that and the strategies around the mix of tools or chemistries they use are very important. It's so important that there be the range of availability of chemistries, whether old, new, or non-traditional.

Agriculture committee  Sometimes there are alternatives, but they're not necessarily viable alternatives. That's the importance of having things that work and being able to have some choices. In terms of information, I think communication is hugely important. All of the witnesses have spoken in one way or another to that importance.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to speak within the context of your study on bee health monitoring in Canada. The Canadian Horticultural Council is no stranger to this committee, and as always, appreciates the chance to come before you not only to raise matters of concern but also to highlight successes in this sector.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Gilvesy is correct. Certainly from our understanding of what we have here in the U.S., the Canadian Bankers Association has a standing policy from which they would not be prepared to deviate. Research that has been done in the U.S. over time shows—because again, they have a long history on this—that at the time PACA was created, the banks remained silent, which was deemed a positive, and over time, speaking with different groups, overall PACA has had a net positive effect for both growers and packers in the produce industry as well as for bankers financing the sectors.

Agriculture committee  PACA provided extra security to banks focused on production lending in that it allowed growers priority in recovering any unpaid accounts from buyers, therefore strengthening growers' balance sheets.

Agriculture committee  The letter to the then-minister of agriculture advising of the change subsequent to the telephone notification does indicate that at such time as we are able to put something together, they will revisit it. It's administrative. They don't need to make any legislative changes. It was administrative to remove the preferred access, and it will be administrative to restore it.

Agriculture committee  That's correct.

Agriculture committee  I don't recall the exact text, but it does speak to comparability. Also, in the regulatory co-operation council, in the first iteration in the action items, the action plan, there is text that also speaks to a comparable mechanism.

Agriculture committee  I agree. I think there will be a good discussion on Wednesday. I certainly plan to be here to listen to the discussion, because this is something very near and dear to me. We're here in this room today in 2016, and we all have an opportunity to contribute to a way forward. I purposely alluded to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Pest Management Centre.

Agriculture committee  Perhaps I could add just very quickly a comment as to the urgency, and thank you for that, because it is urgent. It's important to understand around that context. You spoke to the small farms in the Lower Mainland. The context is everything in those small and medium-sized enterprises.

Agriculture committee  [Inaudible--Editor] put in place, so it's been a good number of years. It has been many years since I was on the sales desk. There are lots of other people before me, but since the deemed trust was implemented—

Agriculture committee  It was 1930 for the PACA to start with, and then the deemed trust was added.