Schedule (2019)

The Gowling WLG – Joel Taller Prize for Emerging Voices in Food Law will be awarded to the JD student or recent law school graduate with the best presentation in the area of food law and policy at the Canadian Food Law and Policy Conference.

The Gowling WLG – Joel Taller Prize for Emerging Voices in Food Law is in memory of Joel Taller, who passed away on May 13, 2017.  Joel Taller was a pioneer and a well-known expert in the area food law in Canada.  Joel practiced for 34 years in the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG, working with companies of all sizes. Joel was well respected by both industry and government for his legal expertise and sound judgment. He was instrumental in developing the Food & Beverage group at Gowling WLG, a significant team of lawyers and scientists who support companies doing business in Canada, Europe and other jurisdictions around the world. 

Cannabis and Consumption: Emerging Challenges in Regulating Scale

rm J250

Cannabis Comestible et Salubrité Alimentaire : la Rencontre de Deux Réformes, Jean-Pierre Lévesque (Cain Lamarre)

Edibles, Extracts and the Environment – Minimizing the Legal Risks of Cannabis, Richard Butler (Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP) and Giselle Davidian (Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP)

Cleanness of Teeth: Cannabis and Food Regulatory Complexities in Canada, Jack Llyod (Jack Lloyd, Barrister & Solicitor)

Sara Zbrovski (Stikeman Elliot)

Moderator: Robert Graham (Miller Thomson)

Food for Thought: Roadmap to a National School Food Program

rm J140

Bill Jeffrey (Centre for Health Science and Law)

Heather Mcleod-Kilmurray (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law)

Debbie Field (Coalition for Healthy School Food)

Priscilla Settee (University of Saskatchewan)

Moderator: Harriet Friedmann

Lifting the Veil on Animal Agriculture: Legal Strategies for Farmed Animals

rm J130

 Food, Transparency, and Litigation, Justin Marceau (University of Denver)

Foxes Guarding the Hen House: Private Standard-Setting for Farmed Animal Welfare, Camille Labchuk (Animal Justice)

Farmed Fish and the Capture Rule: Who Owns an Escaped Farmed Fish?, Angela Fernandez (University of Toronto, Faculty of Law)

Moderator: Angela Lee (University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law)

What’s on the Box? Rethinking Labeling and Certifications  

rm J125

 The Efficacy of Food Labels: Has the Market Surpassed its Carrying Capacity for Certification Marks?, Alexandra Mogyoros (University of Oxford)

Spiritual Trauma: Is Trademark Law "Spiritual"?, Richard Rabkin (Kashruth Council of Canada)

Bootstrapping Quality through Contract: Designing Effective 3rd Party Certifying Bodies, Glenford Jameson (G. S. Jameson & Company)

Moderator: Amélie Gouin (BLG)

What Science? Questioning the Regulatory Frame for Food Safety

rm J250

Two Solitudes: Anti-Science and Science, and the Irreconcilable Regulatory Approaches in the era of CRISPA, Stan Benda (Osgoode Hall Law School)

Lyzette Lamondin (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)

Sarah Berger Richardson (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law)

Moderator: Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny (University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law)

Law and Labour Unfreedom: Access to Justice for Migrant Farmworkers

rm J125

Chris Ramsaroop (Justice 4 Migrant Workers)

Fay Faraday (Osgoode Hall Law School)

Shane Martinez (Martínez Law)

Adrian Smith

Moderator: Rachel Cheng (Food Secure Canada)

Access to Food in the Public Sector 

rm J140

Translocalism & Policy Transfer: International Knowledge Sharing for Transformating Institutional Food Environments, Sophie Lamond (University of Melbourne)

Climate, Land, and Equity: Designing New Procurement Tools Around Public Values, Hayley Lapalme (Nourish) and Wendy Smith (MEALsource)

Moderator: Heather McLeod-Kilmurray (University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law)

Defining the Field of Food Law & Policy: Histories and Futures

rm J130

Jamie Baxter (Moderator)

 Looking Forward, Nadia Lambek (University of Toronto, Faculty of Law)

Looking Back: A View from Francophone Canada, Geneviève Parent (Faculté de droit de l'Université Laval)

Looking Back: A View from Anglophone Canada, Don Buckingham (Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute)

Moderator: Jamie Baxter (Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University)

Block Chain and the Food System: Possibilities and Risks

rm J250

 Blockchain & the Agri-Food Industry: Natural Allies?, Laurence A Clavet (Lavery Law)

Wayne Logan (Miller Thomson)

Blockchain and Digital Agriculture, Pat Mooney (ETC Group)

Moderator: Matthew Marinett (University of Toronto Faculty of Law)

Sponsored by Miller Thomson

Access to Good Food: Food Boxes, Corner Stores and Beyond

rm J125

 Lessons from the Good Food Box and the Need for Further Research: How Issues of Scale and Scope impact Toronto Community Food Programs, Laëtitia Eyssartel (FoodShare) and Leslie Campbell (FoodShare)

Ottawa Public Health’s “Good Food Corner Stores”: Store Owners' Perceptions and Experiences, Meghan Lynch (University of Toronto)

Public Health Nutrition and Commercial Activity: Scalar Disparities and Opportunities in Health Promotion, Catherine Mah (Dalhousie University)

Moderator: Angela Fernandez (University of Toronto, Faculty of Law)

Food and Justice: Ethical Value Chains

rm J130

The Social and Environmental Impacts of the Food Commodities Production in Amazonian Territories, Nirvia Ravena de Sousa (Federal University of Pará/Brazil) and Rosa Elizabeth Acevedo Marin (Federal University of Pará/Brazil)

Modern Slavery, Child Labour and Human Trafficking in Food Supply Chains, Stephen Pike (Gowlings)

Organizing the Local: Workers’ Rights in Food Supply Chains, Ryan White (Cavalluzzo LLP)

Moderator: Deborah Curran (University of Victoria, Faculty of Law)

Regulating Public Health: the Role of the State in Addressing (Over-)Consumption

rm J140

 A Duty to Warn Consumers about the Risk of Overconsumption?, Jacob Shelley (University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law)

Educating Canada with the Nutrition Facts Table, Melissa Card-Abela (Michigan State University)

Les Interventions de l’État en Matière d’Habitudes Alimentaires et la Stigmatisation en Fonction du Poids, Josiane Rioux Collin (Université de Sherbrooke)

Moderator: Patricia Farnese (University of Saskatchewan, College of Law)

From Seeds to Markets

rm J250

Reflection on the Scale of Québec Agricultural Landscape and on Innovation, Joanie Lapalme (Fasken)

Seeds to Scale, Lauren Martin (Canadian Seed Trade Association)

Bring Product to Markets, Dan Kiselbach (Miller Thomson)

Moderator: Glenford Jameson (G. S. Jameson & Company)

Sponsored by Miller Thomson

Municipal Governance: Scales, Cities and Food

J130

Le Rôle Incontournable des Municipalités dans la Réalisation Effective du Droit à l'Alimentation: De l'International au Local, Jessica Dufresne (University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law)

Collaborative Governance for Municipal Food Policy: A Case Study in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Rebecca Hasdell (Dalhousie University) and Jamie Baxter (Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University)

25 Years of Food Security in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Cecilia Rocha (Ryerson University)

Moderator: Terra Duchene (Siskinds LLP)

Changing the Quality of Foodland Protection: Exploring the Roles of Indigenous, Federal and Local Governments 

rm J125

Deborah Curran (University of Victoria Faculty of Law)

David Connell (University of Northern British Columbia)

Rebeca Macias Gimenez (University of Victoria Faculty of Law)

Informing Consumer Choice: Rethinking Advertising

rm J140

Food Advertising Law Points to a New Consumption, John Enman-Beech (University of Toronto Faculty of Law)

First Cigarettes, Next Cheese, Cola and Cognac: The Migration of Brand Restrictions to the Food, Beverage and Alcohol Industries, Lorraine Fleck

Advertising to Children, Lin Jawhar (University of Western Ontario)

Moderator: Marsha Cadogan (CIGI and Canaan Bridges Consulting)

Food Fights: Litigation, Remediation and Compensation

rm J250

Ayse Dalli (McCarthy Tétrault)

Amélie Gouin (BLG)

Julia Webster (BLG)

Foodborne Illness and Civil Compensation for Consumers, Amy Hétu (Université de Sherbrooke)

Moderator: Lauren McCulloch

Indigenous Food Sovereignty

rm J130

Exploring Food Mino-Pimatisiwin (good life) through the Lens of Indigenous Agriculture and Law: Respecting How Indigenous Control of Food Production is Building Food Sovereignty Models Across Turtle Island, Stephen Penner (University of Guelph)

Darcy Lindburg (University of Alberta Faculty of Law)

Moderator: Priscilla Settee (University of Saskatchewan)

National Food Polices and the Regulation of Food

rm J140

Food Policy Governance in Canada: Reaping the Benefits of a Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Mechanism, Mary Coulas (Carleton University) and Peter Andrée (Carleton University)

What the United States Can Learn from Canada's Process Toward a National Food Policy, Laurie Beyranevand (Vermont Law School) and Emily Broad Leib (Harvard Law School)

Melana Roberts (Food Secure Canada)

Moderator: Abra Brynne (Central Kootenay Food Policy Council)

M&A Transactions in the Food, Beverage and Agribusiness Sector

rm J250

Matthieu Rheault (McCarthy Tétrault)

Lara Nathans (McCarthy Tétrault)

Martha Harrison (McCarthy Tétrault)

The Alternative Proteins Sector: Are Current Regulations Allowing Innovation in Canada?

rm J140

Yadira Tejeda Saldana (Moderator)

On Crickets and Scales: Regulating Promises and Challenges of Insect Farming, Patricia Galvao Ferreira (University of Windsor Faculty of Law)

Angela Lee (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law)

Gabriel Wildgen (Harvard Law School)

Lejjy Gafour (Future Fields)

Moderator: Yadira Tejeda Saldana

Negotiating Conflicts of Interests in Food: Controversies and Corporate Capture

rm J130

Paul Thacker (Investigative Journalist)

Erica Di Ruggiero (University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health)

Moderator: Trudo Lemmens (University of Toronto, Faculty of Law)

Rethinking Governance: Rights, Realities and Alternatives

rm J125

Conceptualising Food Sovereignty: A Critical Legal Approach, Ayse Sezgin (King’s College London)

La Déclaration des Nations Unies sur les Droits des Paysans et des Autres Personnes Travaillant dans les Zones Rurales : Un Instrument Ambitieux, Audacieux, Mais Faible…?, Alix Génier (McGill University Faculty of Law)

Ayla Fenton (National Farmers Union)

Moderator: Nadia Lambek (University of Toronto, Faculty of Law)

Frontiers of Food Labeling: New Trends in Intellectual Property Law

rm J250

Food-based Geographical Indications and Emerging Technologies: Intellectual Property and Trade Law Considerations, Marsha Simone Cadogan (Centre for International Governance Innovation)

Institutionalizing Geographical Indications in Canada: A Division of Powers Perspective, Renata Watkin (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law)

Constitutional Issues in Food and Beverage Regulation: a Look at the Royal DeMaria v VQA Ontario Case, Paul-Erik Veel (Lenczner Slaght)

Moderator: Lauren Martin (Canadian Seed Trade Association)

Weighing and Scaling: Cultures, Politics, and the Economic Governance of Food

rm J125

Andrea Freeman (University of Hawaii School of Law)

Toward an Edible Society: Rethinking Innovation and Sustainability in Consuming the (M)other, Bita Amani (Queen’s University Faculty of Law)

Moderator: Peter Andrée (Carleton University)

Fish Food: Proteins of the Sea

rm 130

Sarah Berger Richardson (Moderator)

Eating with Our Ocean Ecosystem, Jim McIsaac (T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation)

Critical Perspectives on Canadian Industrial Aquaculture, Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law)

Philip M Saunders, QC (Schulich School of Law, Marine & Environmental Law Institute, School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University)

Moderator: Sarah Berger Richardson (University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law)