Meet Our Speakers - Robert Scriven

NAME: Robert Scriven

TITLE: Partner at Madorin, Snyder LLP

EDUCATION: BAH, Queen’s University; LLB, University of Calgary

Q: Tell us a bit about your work: what do you practice and how does it relate to or involve the governance of food or food systems?

I was called to the Ontario Bar in 2012.  I began my practice doing both solicitor and litigator work in the agricultural sector.  In more recent years I have focused almost exclusively on litigation.  I represent clients who are primary producers, agribusiness owners and food processors.  I have represented these clients in front of all levels of court in Ontario as well as various tribunals such as the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Tribunal, the Normal Farm Practices Board and the Canadian Agricultural Review Tribunal.  My wife and I also own and operate several farms and I have experience operating a commercial egg grading station.

Q: What is an ongoing and/or emerging food law and policy issue that you have come across through your work that you feel is important and/or urgent and why?  What is at stake?

An issue I see in the realm of food law and policy is the divide between consumers and producers.  Unfortunately, a large swath of the population has become disconnected from the farm.  Many consumer’s conception of how their food is produced and what farming entails is quite different from reality.  A good example is how many people think farms are small family organizations, but today’s demand for food requires large and sophisticated organizations.

There is a great deal at stake for the Canadian food system.  Consumers constitute a large voting body.  Where consumer’s interests differ from that of producers, both farmers and other businesses people, you can expect to see friction.  I expect that over the next decade, primary producers will find their work with the soil and with animals to decrease as a proportion as paperwork and other forms of due diligence that is mandated by government bodies rises.  I recognize that many of our regulatory institutions do important work, but they must consider the input they receive from those on the production side of our food system.  It will become easier to ignore production-side voices as the schism between urban and rural, or producer and consumer widens.

Q: Can you give us a hint of something you will talk about at the conference?

At the conference I plan to talk about my experiences with agriculture law, especially with respect to administrative law and animal welfare law.  These areas of the law are the setting for many hard conversations about food law, especially considering the differences in assumptions and interests between consumers and producers.

Q: As an agricultural lawyer, you have appeared before many different tribunals and courts.  Would you consider the work of an agricultural lawyer to be that of a specialist or a generalist?

I have always considered myself to be a generalist with the law.  When I started practicing, I did all sorts of different work ranging from wills and real estate to commercial litigation.  Even now that I have restricted myself to litigation work, I still take on cases from all different areas and subject matters.  However, there certainly is a specialist nature to working as an agricultural lawyer.  There is a certain degree of familiarity with farming and food processing that is greatly valued by my clients that I am happy to deliver from my background in farming.

Q: Why did you decide to co-write the newest edition of Agriculture Law in Canada textbook?

It was a great pleasure of mine to help Robert Fuller and Don Buckingham on their most recent edition of the textbook.  They are both giants in the field; Robert is an expert solicitor for agricultural clients and Don is the expert on food policy.  I was happy to contribute from my primary experience as a litigator.  There is certainly a need for more literature on the subject and a need to keep up with the updates since the first edition of the book in 1999.  I hope lawyers, students, professors and other professionals can all benefit from the Agriculture Law in Canada textbook.

Robert Scriven will be presenting on the “Keynote: The State of Agriculture” panel on Friday, November 4, 2022