Agriculture committee  Again, I'll speak only in general terms. If the past is any indication of future trends, we need more innovation and more economies of scale. Let the best and more creative farmers take over, grow the scale of their operations, and become more efficient over time. We've reached a point now—it's funny that we're discussing these agroforestry issues—where a number of experts these days talk about “peak farmland”, meaning that despite the fact that the world population keeps increasing, we've probably reached the maximum amount of farmland that we will ever need if past trends and increased yields keep on improving.

Agriculture committee  Oh, yes. I mean, I took it for granted that you were all familiar with those issues. Let's look at best practices elsewhere and let's try to import them here. Again, I understand that you're all representing your constituents, but at the same time...or maybe it's more my job to do some popular education in terms of explaining why these advances are creating fewer problems than those that existed before.

Agriculture committee  There are two things. As you probably know, some countries have actually gotten rid of systems that were fairly similar, like New Zealand and Australia, and New Zealand has taken over the dairy products. They have better conditions to produce dairy products. I've travelled in Wisconsin and parts of the upper Midwest where, honestly, conditions are not so different from those in Quebec.

Agriculture committee  The issue is more complex than people think. I will give you an American example. If you buy oranges at your supermarket, and then you throw away the peel, this is often considered food waste. Paradoxically, the best way to fight waste in that case would be to buy orange juice, because in big processing operations they convert peels into livestock feed.

Agriculture committee  That should be the focus of the government. At the same time, we should do something that will be a bit more painful, and that is stop subsidizing inefficiencies or having certain frameworks, like supply management, that don't allow the best farmers to grow and the less efficient ones to go out of business.

Agriculture committee  A lot of activists these days are very fond of the precautionary principle, saying that we should not develop technology in the absence of absolute certainty in terms of the outcome. In general terms, I would argue that a better ethical or philosophical standard would be the creation of lesser problems than those that existed before.

Agriculture committee  I'll speak in very general terms. When we talk about climate policy in this country, and frankly pretty much anywhere, the problem is that we tend to forget about the big picture. We just look at the impact that a tax would have on reducing carbon production, or at least carbon emissions.

Agriculture committee  Are we?

Agriculture committee  Okay, I apologize for that. That's not what my stopwatch is telling me. Oh, it is.

Agriculture committee  Fair enough. I'll be quick. Soil degradation has been a concern since the beginning of farming. This was the climate change issue of the 1920s, with everybody bothered about that. What has happened in the last few decades is that forests have made a huge comeback in advanced economies, and the key issue here is that people have replaced resources produced from the surface of the land with resources that came from underneath.

Agriculture committee  My apologies.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for the invitation. Again, my name is Pierre Desrochers. I'm an associate professor of geography at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. The remarks I prepared for you were co-produced with my colleague Joanna Szurmak, who is an electrical engineer and information specialist by training.

Natural Resources committee  What I would add is that if you look at the history of the energy sector, or of any manufacturing sector, really, what was often driving what today we would call green behaviour was simply bottom-line considerations. What is pollution? Well, pollution is waste that is made from inputs that you've paid for, and the stuff is there, and it's in large quantities.

Natural Resources committee  Once again, it's a personal issue. I could get hit crossing the street tomorrow morning. Does that mean I should stay home and do nothing? No employer wants his or her employees to get hurt. In any case, I haven't had much experience with that in my life. Once again, if I may come back to my statistics from the 19th century—

Natural Resources committee  You will have to ask the people in the industry. In any event, the statistics on work accidents, illnesses or the back pain that people experience show to what extent people are in better health than in the past, as shown by the figures in the image and the twenty or so other similar illustrations.