Keynote Plenary
Inflection Point or Business as Usual?: Assessing the Current Moment
Friday November 13, 2026, 9:00am - 10:30am, Room W105
This panel will discuss whether we are living through a time of generational change or rupture in the practice/study of food law and policy or whether it is all just business as usual. As we gather for our 10th conference, we reflect back on the significant changes to the regulatory and legal landscape of food law in Canada and to the tremendous growth in food law practice, scholarship, teaching and thinking over the last decade or so. We also look to current events from trade wars to military wars, from climate change to increasing corporate concentration, from pandemics to parasites, from commitments to and failures at reconciliation, that have brought questions of how we govern food systems to the forefront. How do we make sense of this moment? Are we at a moment of generational change in how we govern food systems (or study/practice food law) or is it just more of the same? If so, why? If not, why? What is at stake in how we answer these questions? If we are experiencing a new generation of food law, what defines it? What should define it? Who should define it?
Moderator:
Sarah Berger Richardson, Faculty of Law (Civil Law Section) of the University of Ottawa
Sarah Berger Richardson is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law (Civil Law Section) of the University of Ottawa, where she teaches food law and administrative law. Her research focuses on the regulation of the agri-food sector, with an emphasis on animal agriculture and transitions towards sustainable food systems. She is Co-Director of the University of Ottawa’s Public Law Centre and a member of the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa’s Committee on Academic Freedom. She was also a co-founder and inaugural President (2019–2025) of the Canadian Association for Food Law and Policy.
Speakers:
Katrina Coughlin, Partner, Gowling WLG LLP
Katrina Coughlin is a partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office. Her practice is focused primarily on regulatory and commercial law related to food and alcohol/wine, animal feeds and other agricultural products, drugs and natural health products, medical devices, cosmetics, and general consumer products. Drawing on her prior experience working at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Katrina assists clients interacting with federal government departments, including Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), AAFC and Competition Bureau, as well as provincial and territorial regulators. She has extensive experience working with companies of all sizes on product commercialization issues, including: product classification, regulatory licensing and approvals, manufacturing, packaging, labelling, advertising and regulatory enforcement matters such as recalls. Katrina also assists clients with responses to Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) and notices of violation (NOV) issued by the CFIA. In addition to her law practice, Katrina operates a cow-calf farming operation with her husband, providing her with unique insight into the agrifood industry.
Raymond Jordan Johnson-Brown, McGill Faculty of Law