Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to begin by offering some explanation of my background. You'll recognize from the accent that I'm not a native son of Canada, although I'm working on it. I'm a scientist whose research is focused on improving crop productivity. I moved from the U.K. to Canada in 2002 to take up my present post as dean of the College of Biological Science at the University of Guelph.