Kent. He agrees, and he knows more about strawberries than me.

When you get to the point that your tissue cultures facility is falling apart and we’re still talking about that it’s time for a plan—we’ve been talking about this for a long time. We’ve known this issue, and we get it, and you get it. That’s one of the reasons I’m glad that this bill is at the table right now. I’m focusing on this because this needs to be settled. It needs to be settled.

Forty years ago, I am sure that this facility was groundbreaking, breathtaking in what it could do. Now it’s worn out. And when the minister said—and we are: in some areas, we are way ahead. We are world leaders in research. But in tissue propagation for commercial breeders? Not right now. And even the one thing we’ve learned—we’ve learned a lot of lessons from COVID, and the one thing we have also learned from COVID is that you need to be able to rely on your own facilities when things go wrong in the world. I think this is a case where, for 40 years, we’ve had that facility, and now we didn’t have the money to change the HEPA filter. Like, what is that?

I’m from northern Ontario, and I’m a bit jaded, because 10 years ago, we had to fight to keep the research station, period. We saved the research station with the University of Guelph and with the government. But this feels eerily similar. It just does.

So when you’re at the Earlton Farm Show, see the potential—and there’s way more potential in northern Ontario—but also recognize what’s there and what needs to be changed. Because if there’s one thing that needs to be changed, and actually, there’s not a lot of—there’s starting to be more potatoes and there’s a few strawberries, but most of it isn’t for local. That one—and I take the rep from the University of Guelph at his word. I take the minister at her word last year at committee when she said that there was a plan in place to rebuild it and to rebuild it in New Liskeard. She specifically said in New Liskeard. I take everyone at their word. The question is, “When?” and “How many more?” The berry growers are now—they were hurt, and for no reason. So if the act is updated, hopefully that will help speed up the decision-making process too.

I know I’m dwelling on this issue for a long time, Speaker, but it’s an issue I likely won’t get to talk about again very much. And I don’t think anyone’s specifically out to hurt the SPUD unit. We all want the industries to flourish. This is one that I hope we can get some action on as soon as possible. I think all members who have any agriculture in their heart, because it is something that’s in—and I don’t think it’s just agriculture but, for me, it’s just agriculture. There’s something about agriculture.

So with that, I’m going to switch gears. I think I’ve made my point in that. I was listening intently to the minister when she was talking about their herd. I like personal stories.

My wife hates this time of year. It’s not so much—she likes the spring, but the spring is when I start looking for tractors. Farmers love tractors. My problem is, I spend all my time here driving around the riding. I still have a farm. I sharecrop my farm with someone else—actually, with Koch Farms—and I have no real need for another tractor, but man, the pull is there.

Just one other personal: This year it’s going to be a different year for farming in northern Ontario, for a lot of things. Because we didn’t have any snow, right? So with wildfires, it could be a very different year. But most years—I’m going to give you my experience of the springtime, coming to the Legislature. Around, oh—when is the snow usually gone here? Around the end of March?

It’s warm here, and there’s no snow, and you can smell the ground. Farmers, gardeners—there’s something about it. There’s something about fresh soil. You can smell it. So you’re here for a whole week, and then you forget, so when I drive home, there’s still three feet of snow.

Week two, I drive down here. The grass is growing. It’s springtime. I’m sitting here in my seat thinking, “Oh, I’ll get home and do stuff.” I’m not selling northern Ontario now. I drive home and there is still three feet of snow.

Week three, I drive down here. I don’t know if they’ve started yet, but there’s a nice sidewalk that goes up University here, and there’s a bunch of flowerbeds. The flowers will start coming out, and then it’s really, “Oh, man. We’re going to get home and start planting.” You go home and, Speaker, in week three, there is still snow. It’s so frustrating.

Week four, I drive down here, and people are mowing their lawns. Everybody’s in shorts. It’s just beautiful down here, right? Week four, you drive home, and the grass is this tall, because your spring lasts a month; our spring is a week. So it’s hotter at home than it is here. The dust is flying off the fields. There might still be a bit of snow in the bush. But week four, I’m behind, because, I was, “Oh, there’s still snow.” The moral to the story is, that’s why it’s so important to do research in different places, because of just the difference in the physical conditions.

The fall is not quite so bad. Your falls here are a little bit—

Interjection.

Now I’m going to get back to the bill, but an hour is a long time to fill, Speaker.

The worst weather I’ve driven through since I have been elected was in London, Ontario. The Heinz plant in Leamington closed, and I had to drive down there for a presser or something. I always listen to classic rock stations. I’m driving, and the DJ goes, “Yeah, the weather is a bit gloomy.” It was in November, so fine, a little bit gloomy. “The weather is a bit gloomy and there’s a streamer coming down Commissioner Street.”

I’m from northern Ontario, used to 40 below. I’m just driving along, wondering what a streamer is. A streamer is a snowstorm, an instant snowstorm, that would shut northern Ontario down for three days. It’s just cars in the ditch on both sides, and then you go for about a kilometre or a kilometre and a half, and it’s all gone again. That’s not weather that we—our weather is much more stable. It gets cold; it snows. This year is different. This year, it’s almost like southern Ontario weather. And that’s something you have to get used to, too, when you’re overwintering crops. So some years winter wheat works great in our area, but not every year. Those are all things that make a difference, why research should be regional.

There’s a couple of other quotes here I want to read before I tell too many personal stories; just give me a second, Speaker. I want to read something that I found from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. They made a written submission, but they also came to the board. Mr. Mark Reusser came to the board, or came to the committee. The OFA was in favour of the bill. We’re all in agreement of that; that’s why we support it. But they did have some—and I’d like to put them into the record, into the Hansard, as well—Mark called them concerns. I would call them more constructive suggestions. I would like to read some of them into the record.

From Mr. Mark Reusser: “We do have some concerns and some suggestions with regard to the bill, and I will focus on those, if I may.

“The first one has to do with the mandate. The proposed updates to the mandate or objects of the ARIO are a significant expansion of the objectives,” which is true. “The core function of providing advice to the minister remains, and OFA supports that a key objective for ARIO is to advise the minister on high-impact, transformational agri-food research and innovation....

“OFA appreciates that the mandate expansion will increase collaboration, and we support increased engagement of the agri-food sector. Engagement with agriculture organizations, industry and researchers is key for the sector to reach its full potential, and ARIO will be more effective in its role with cross-collaboration.” So that’s the purpose of the bill.

“However, to be successful in determining research needs and promoting research opportunities, farmers must be recognized and included as key participants, not merely consulted stakeholders. So OFA recommends that ARIO engage directly with farmers and producer organizations on research needs and objectives as a key priority....”

That struck me, because when we ran into the issue where ARIO and the University of Guelph were thinking about divesting the New Liskeard Agricultural Research Station, there was a breakdown between the farm community and the research done there, because farmers, agricultural stakeholders, need to see some relevance in the research to really buy into it, and that was lacking. There was very little reporting of what research was being done. There wasn’t really a connection. I think that’s what OFA is—I don’t want to put words into OFA’s—they spoke for themselves; they’re on the record. But my interpretation was that there needs to be a connection between the agriculture community and ARIO, the research organization. That connection needs to be there, and if that connection isn’t there, then not only will the agriculture community lose, but Ontario as a whole will lose. Although we may not agree with everything that the government talks about—their goals in agriculture. Where we profoundly disagree is about the importance of saving farmland. So you need to have that connection. The agriculture community in Timiskaming didn’t have that connection with the ARIO site in New Liskeard and, quite frankly, the University of Guelph didn’t either, or they wouldn’t have thought about closing. That’s why it’s so important that we need that connection.

The minister, in her comments, talked about Emo, and I think the quote she was referring to—many people can find Nemo, but not too many people could find Emo. That was my quote.

Interjection.