An ag industry organization is calling on the federal government to implement the recommendations the House ag committee tabled in a report on the planned cuts to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).
“These recommendations confirm what SeedChange — alongside farmers, scientists, and sector leaders — presented to the Committee,” Aabir Dey, director of SeedChange’s Canadian program, said in a statement. “The federal government must act before critical research capacity and field work are lost forever.”
SeedChange is a nonprofit organization supporting seed diversity, public plant breeding, and farmer-led innovation.
The House’s Standing Committee on Agriculture and Food held four meetings, heard from 27 witnesses and received multiple written documents, related to science in Canadian ag and the planned research site closures.
In its report, the committee made 20 recommendations, asking the government to reconsider some of its decisions.
These include the cancelling of the organic and the regenerative program at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre, and the decision to close a CFIA food allergy testing lab in Longueuil, Que.
The committee also recommended the government explore other spending reductions that don’t affect front-line scientists, and to study whether research site closures could contribute to food security.