Helping Chicken Farmers Build and Strengthen Capacity - Governments to invest in strengthening emergency response for chicken industry in Ontario

Toronto, Ontario – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - The governments of Canada and Ontario are supporting a project that will build and strengthen the capacity for the chicken industry to effectively and humanely manage chickens in emergency situations.

 

The governments have committed up to $350,873 in cost-share funding to the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, working alongside the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg and Chicken Commission and the Association of Ontario Chicken Processors under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership). This project will deliver a third-party service that ensures chickens are handled in a humane manner during emergency situations such as a disease outbreak or barn damage from fire or extreme weather.

 

This project falls under the Protection and Assurance stream of the Partnership, which supports livestock and poultry farmers in Ontario to be competitive, productive and profitable while managing animal health and food safety risks.

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.