Honourable senators, most of you know just how much I appreciate fermentation. Well, never more than today.

Colleagues, food production in Canada evokes images of boundless fields of canola or wheat, but not methanol-fed microbes in fermentation tanks. Don’t worry. Methanol-eating microbes won’t be on anyone’s menu any day soon, but they do put us on a path to sustainable protein.

Nova-Scotia-based DeNova has a natural fermentation process that converts methanol produced from methane, or natural gas, and produces a high-value protein ingredient for animal feed. Their entirely made-in-Canada solution is resource-efficient, environmentally friendly and, frankly, brilliant.

The need for their innovation could not be more urgent because it intersects numerous national priorities. Traditional feed sources, like fish meal and soymeal, come at an enormous environmental cost.

Soy cultivation is fuelling deforestation, unfettered harvesting of wild fish can irreversibly destroy ocean ecosystems and the production of fish food creates the majority of aquaculture’s carbon footprint.

Conversely, DeNova is creating a stunning new industrial use that can convert Canada’s natural gas into a scalable product that does not release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Yet, DeNova and other similar innovators face solution-killing regulatory barriers.

Companies working at the frontier of food and feed alternatives need a clear, timely and predictable path to approval. Regulatory uncertainty kills innovation and investment. If we want Canada to be a global leader in new food systems, Canada’s regulatory systems must keep pace with innovators.

Then there’s the issue of scale. Our most promising innovators need to rapidly graduate from small pilot projects, but scaling up clean, industrial fermentation infrastructure is capital-intensive and complex. Innovative financing through a blend of public and private investment and strategic partnerships can help to de-risk early projects, and that’s how we build clean growth into the core of our economy.

Finally, none of this works unless governments are rowing in the same direction. The provinces and territories have their own ambitions and many are already investing heavily in decarbonization and economic diversification. This is the moment to align federal and provincial priorities and fast-track projects and investments that can address these strategic objectives simultaneously.

Canada has the ingredients: a rich natural resource base, a growing clean tech sector and incredibly innovative entrepreneurs like those at DeNova. What we need now is the political will to connect the dots.

Colleagues, we face enormous intersecting challenges. Siloed solutions and old ways of thinking won’t save us. Companies like DeNova represent the kind of cross-cutting innovation we need. They touch climate, food security, clean tech and economic growth all at once. Let’s clear the path to global success.

Thank you, colleagues.