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Bibeau Launches $77.5 Million Emergency Processing Fund

On Friday, Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, launched the $77.5 million Emergency Processing Fund (EPF) as part of the Government of Canada’s action to support Canadians and businesses facing hardship as a result of COVID-19.
 
“Canadian food processors are key to ensuring Canada’s food supply chain is protected during COVID-19, and beyond," said Bibeau. "Our Government understands the challenges that Canadian food processors, producers and manufacturers are facing. This Emergency Processing Fund will help our processors to adapt their activities to ensure the safety of their workers, and to increase their capacity of production.”
 
The program will prioritize projects based on two objectives:
 
Emergency COVID Response to assist companies to implement changes required by COVID-19 to ensure the health and safety of workers.
 
This funding will assist with:
 
- plant retrofits or adjustments to existing operations to accommodate changes to processes and production;
 
- increasing capacity for herd management.
 
Strategic Investments to assist companies to improve, automate, and modernize facilities needed to increase Canada’s food supply capacity.
 
Activities can be retroactive to March 15, 2020 and must be completed by September 30, 2020.
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Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.