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.

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

Raymond Jordan Johnson-Brown (they/he) is a Two-Spirit, Ethnic Anomaly, and multi-hyphenate creative completing a joint BCL/JD and MSW at McGill Faculty of Law. As Indigenous Network Manager at Right To Food, they were a key lead in the development of Seeds of Sovereignty, a living brief on Indigenous food sovereignty released in November 2025, which grounds a forthcoming chapter in the Routledge Handbook on Critical Food Systems Planning that reads Indigenous food sovereignty as counter-planning rather than a service gap to be closed by federal subsidy. Their research explores how law recognizes people as authorities over their own conditions rather than as subjects of state discretion, a question they carry into food governance and child welfare alike. Raymond also serves as Equity Integration Specialist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and brings fifteen years of practice across health, education, child welfare, and food systems, along with their own history inside state care.

Geneviève Parent, Faculté de droit de l’Université Laval (titulaire de la Chaire de recherche en droit sur la diversité et la sécurité alimentaires) et membre de la Commission de Révision Agricole du Canada

Geneviève Parent est professeure titulaire à la Faculté de droit de l’Université Laval et titulaire de la Chaire de recherche en droit sur la diversité et la sécurité alimentaires. Elle est membre à temps partiel de la Commission de Révision Agricole du Canada et membre associé de l’Académie d’Agriculture de France. Ses champs d’intérêts sont la sécurité alimentaire et le droit de l’agroalimentaire national et international. Ses recherches portent sur la sécurité alimentaire durable en droit. Elle s’intéresse aux instruments juridiques nationaux, régionaux et internationaux qui interviennent dans la protection et la promotion de la diversité agricole et alimentaire de même qu’à l’analyse du droit international économique et ses impacts sur la législation canadienne et québécoise de l’agroalimentaire. Elle a contribué à la rédaction de nombreux articles et ouvrages scientifiques et est fréquemment invitée à prononcer des conférences à titre d’experte dans diverses rencontres internationales. Son expertise en droit de l’agro-alimentaire l’amène ainsi à exécuter différents mandats de consultation en droit national et international.