The federal government is giving a needed cash infusion to a Saanich Peninsula research facility that has been doing important work for 106 years.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 Centre for Plant Health in North Saanich sits on a slope west of the Pat Bay Highway, and goes largely unnoticed by the thousands who drive by it every day. But inside the 50- to 70-year-old buildings, 30 staff members work to keep our plants healthy and free of disease.
Thanks to a commitment from Ottawa, the centre will get a new $80-million research and quarantine facility, expected to open in 2022.
The decision is in keeping with the Liberal government鈥檚 attitude to science, which has been getting new respect after years of disdain from the Conservatives. Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, the plant centre was almost closed, until a backlash persuaded the government to change its mind.
The centre is the only one in sa国际传媒 where tree fruit and grapevines are quarantined and tested for viruses after being brought into the country. The laboratories, greenhouses and new technology in the new facility will allow scientists to identify diseases more quickly and reduce the amount of time that plants spend in quarantine.
The investment 鈥� and the recognition of the centre鈥檚 importance 鈥� are welcome.
