Conférenciers/Speakers

Peter Andrée

Peter Andrée is currently Professor in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University. He is also cross appointed in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies and in the Institute of Political Economy. Prof Andrée’s research focuses on the politics of agriculture, food and the environment. He practices, and teaches, community-based participatory research methods and mixed-methods research.

Anne Marie Aubert

Anne Marie Aubert est Codirectrice, Montréal-Métropole en santé Coordonnatrice, Conseil du Système alimentaire montréalais. Elle cumule plus de 12 ans d’expérience en politique fédérale et en mobilisation citoyenne qui ont fait d’elle une leader rassembleuse avec de fortes compétences en développement organisationnel et politiques publiques.

Convaincue que Montréal peut devenir une leader en transition alimentaire, c’est à cette mission qu’elle se consacre dans son rôle de coordination à MMS et au Conseil SAM depuis août 2018.

René Audet

Sociologue de l'environnement, René Audet est professeur au Département de stratégie, responsabilité sociale et environnementale de l'ESG et titulaire de la Chaire de recherche UQAM sur la transition écologique. Il est spécialiste de l'analyse du discours environnemental, de la recherche-action et de l'épistémologie des sciences de l'environnement. Ses recherches portent sur l'émergence du thème de la transition écologique dans les discours et les pratiques des acteurs, et sur les méthodes de collaboration entre chercheurs et acteurs socioéconomiques permettant de faire advenir des transitions localement.

Jamie Baxter

Jamie Baxter is a Associate Professor in the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, where he works and teaches on issues in land, farming, and food.

Marianne Beaulieu

Marianne Beaulieu est directrice adjointe à l’Éco de la Pointe-aux-Prairies, un organisme à but non lucratif à vocation environnementale. Titulaire d’un Baccalauréat en Sciences de l’agriculture et de l’environnement spécialisé en agriculture écologique et agronomie à l’Université McGill, elle poursuit actuellement une Maitrise en Environnement à l’Université Sherbrooke. Elle a dirigé et mis en place plusieurs projets touchant l’accompagnement de citoyens et d’institutions afin de développer l’agriculture urbaine dans l’arrondissement Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles, et travaille actuellement à la mise en place d’un système alimentaire local et durable dans l’Est de Montréal.

Suivant la décision de l’arrondissement d’autoriser la garde de poules pondeuses sur son territoire, l’organisme a été mandaté pour chapeauter cette initiative dans le cadre d’un projet pilote de deux ans qui a été prolongé, visant à concilier bien-être animal et sécurité alimentaire.

Patricia Bellamingie

Patricia is an associate professor and undergraduate coordinator in Environmental Studies and Human Geography at Carleton University, as well as a student advisor in that department. Her research interests include localizing food systems and sustainable community, community-university partnerships and environmental conflict and deliberative democracy. Patricia is highly interested in praxis – the application of theory. She seeks to make teaching more transformative, and her research critical yet constructive and action-oriented. She’s also worked as a board member for Just Food Ottawa since 2011, striving towards vibrant, just, and sustainable food and farming systems in the region.

Stéphane Bernatchez

Stéphane Bernatchez est professeur titulaire à la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Sherbrooke.

Son enseignement et ses recherches portent sur le droit de la gouvernance, le droit constitutionnel, plus particulièrement les droits et libertés, ainsi que sur la philosophie et la théorie du droit.

Il est chercheur au sein du Centre de recherche sur la régulation et le droit de la gouvernance (CrRDG). Il est également chercheur au sein de l'axe Éthique, gouvernance et démocratie de l’Observatoire international sur les impacts sociétaux de l’IA et du numérique (OBVIA).

De 2006 à 2011, il a été assesseur au Tribunal des droits de la personne.

Alexandra Belley-McKinnon

Alexandra is an Associate at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg. She focuses her practice on litigation in the areas constitutional and administrative law, investigations and white collar defence, and commercial law. Alexandra has acted for clients before all levels of court, including before the Supreme Court of Canada. She also regularly acts for clients in the context of internal investigations and in several pro bono cases in the areas of criminal law and fundamental rights.

Before joining Davies, Alexandra practised commercial litigation at two regional law firms. After graduating from McGill University, she completed an LL.M. in Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. She has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 2018.

Keldon Bester

Keldon Bester is the executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP) and a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). He is a leading voice in Canada’s competition policy conversation, and his writing and thinking have been featured in The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star and Corporate Knights. Keldon has worked as a special adviser at Canada’s Competition Bureau and as a fellow at the Open Markets Institute.

Éliane Brisebois

Abra Brynne

Abra has worked closely with farmers and on food systems for thirty years. She is currently completing her PhD through the IDPhD Program at Dalhousie University.

Laura Casciaro

Laura is a third-year student in the University of Ottawa’s English Common Law JD program. Prior to law school, she completed a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Business Law and Human Resources from Toronto Metropolitan University. During her studies, Laura has worked in the uOttawa Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic and is currently the Vice President of the uOttawa Environmental Law Students’ Association. She is interested in the intersections of environmental law, food law, and food waste.

Marie-Eve Couture-Ménard

Marie-Eve Couture-Ménard est professeure à la Faculté de droit de l’Université de Sherbrooke et co-directrice du Centre de recherche sur la régulation et le droit de la gouvernance (CrRDG) de l’Université de Sherbrooke. Elle se spécialise dans le domaine du droit de la santé publique et s’intéresse plus spécifiquement à la création d’environnements alimentaires sains au niveau municipal et à la régulation des crises sanitaires. Elle siège sur le comité d’orientation de l’axe Politiques publiques et santé des populations du Réseau de recherche en santé des populations du Québec, sur le conseil d’administration du Réseau francophone international pour la promotion de la santé (RÉFIPS) et sur le Comité de vigilance sur le cannabis du Québec.

Clarisse Delaville

Clarisse Delaville is a PhD Candidate at McGill Faculty of Law. Her thesis focuses on gender inequalities in agricultural production in OECD countries. Her research interests are food governance, international trade law, international environmental law, and agriculture. The Fonds de Recherche du Québec funds her current research.

Marie-Claude Desjardins

Marie-Claude Desjardins est professeure titulaire à la Faculté de droit de l’Université de Sherbrooke et co-directrice du Centre de recherche sur la régulation et le droit de la gouvernance (CrRDG). Ses enseignements et ses recherches portent sur le droit de la consommation, le droit de l’agroalimentaire, l’accès à la justice, la responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise et le droit du développement durable.

Jessica Dufresne

Avocate membre du Barreau du Québec, Jessica Dufresne est titulaire d'une licence en droit de l'Université Paris-1 Panthéon Sorbonne, d'un baccalauréat en droit de l'Université Laval et d'une maîtrise en droit international de l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Elle est actuellement doctorante et chargée de cours à l’Université d’Ottawa, où elle enseigne la recherche et la rédaction juridique ainsi que les droits fondamentaux. Ses études doctorales portent plus spécifiquement sur le rôle des municipalités dans la réalisation du droit à l’alimentation au Canada, un droit pour lequel elle milite depuis plusieurs années et qui est au cœur de ses implications citoyennes et communautaires.

Sam Ellis

With a JD and a Master's in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy from Vermont Law and Graduate School, “Sam” Ellis combines extensive legal education with a solid foundation in agriculture, holding a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and Agribusiness from the University of Georgia. As a 2022-23 Albert Schweitzer Fellow, Sam focused on addressing food insecurity on college campuses in Vermont. Sam’s practical experience includes serving as a clinician for the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems and the Environmental Advocacy Clinic, as well as interning for the United States Department of Agriculture Office of General Counsel.

Mark Feduke

Sophie Gaillard

Me Sophie Gaillard est directrice de la défense des animaux et des affaires juridiques et gouvernementales à la SPCA de Montréal. À ce titre, elle est responsable des initiatives visant à renforcer la législation et les politiques publiques en matière de protection animale aux niveaux municipal, provincial et fédéral, en plus d’agir comme conseillère juridique principale et experte en relations gouvernementales de la SPCA. Elle est une des instigatrices du manifeste Les animaux ne sont pas des choses qui a mené à l’adoption d’une disposition au Code civil du Québec reconnaissant les animaux comme des êtres sensibles.

Marie Lara Hubert-Chartier

Canadian lawyer specialized in human rights. Started her at McCarthy Tétrault and dedicated her master’s thesis on social business as an alternative model to protect food security, where she focused on large scale land acquisitions, community empowerment and the right to food. As a land tenure and natural governance specialist, she worked with international institutions including IFAD, FAO and the ILC as well as the AfDB. She joined the FAO Right to Food Team in 2020 as a Right to Food Specialist, where she leads their work related to climate change, biodiversity, natural resources governance, and business and human rights.

Glenford Jameson

Glenford's practice focuses on regulatory, administrative, and commercial law, with a specialization in the food industry and advertising and marketing law. He assists clients across the food value chain, from multinational companies to SMEs and non-profits, in navigating regulatory compliance, negotiating permissions, and managing enforcement actions from Health Canada and the CFIA.

Glenford has significant experience:

Advising on SFCA compliance and supply chain requirements.
Performing detailed substantiation reviews for labeling and advertising claim compliance.
Advising clients on issues related to food safety and allergens, including the development of public communication and regulatory management strategies for product recalls and safety incidents.
Creating strategy for product positioning as conventional or supplemented foods, natural health products, cosmetics, or drugs.
Assessing risk in claims and labeling in relation to class action litigation risk.
Representing clients during CFIA inspections, investigations, and other enforcement activities.

An expert in his field, Glenford has taught Canadian Food Law and Regulation at Michigan State University’s College of Law and spoken at various law schools and conferences globally. His interest lies in the intersection of food, technology, and regulation, where he focuses on solving legal challenges for his clients.

Sylvie Jones, B.Ps., LL.B.

Avocate depuis 2019 au Service des affaires juridiques de la Ville de Laval. Accompagne les divers services de la Ville dans plusieurs domaines du droit municipal, principalement dans les domaines contractuel et réglementaire.

Jean-François Labadie

Gestionnaire de la Division développement social et vitalité communautaire à l'Arrondissement Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Jean-François Labadie a eu une carrière en santé publique aux niveaux local, régional, national et international. Arrivé à la Ville de Montréal depuis 2019, il assume des responsabilités en matière de développement social. À Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, il est engagé dans la mobilisation des acteurs communautaires et municipaux dans la mise en place d'une communauté nourricière.

Marie-Pier Lapointe

Me Marie-Pier Lapointe est notaire à l’emploi du Service du greffe de la Ville de Sherbrooke. Dans le cadre de sa pratique en droit municipal, elle a développé ses compétences dans plusieurs domaines dont notamment la gestion contractuelle et le développement industriel. Depuis quelques années, elle participe aux négociations et à la mise en place de partenariat portant sur la gestion d’infrastructures, la conservation de milieux naturels et la collecte des matières recyclables.

Jodi Lazare

Jodi Lazare is an associate professor and associate dean (academic) at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, where she teaches and researches in family law, constitutional law, and animal law. Her recent work focuses on the constitutional dimensions of animal rights activism and the legality of prohibitions on activism on and around industrial animal farms (ag-gag laws). She holds civil law and common law degrees from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Laws and Doctor of Civil Law from McGill.

Rachel Law

Rachel is a third-year law student at the University of Western Ontario and completed her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at the University of Guelph. Rachel grew up on a cash-crop farm in Southwestern Ontario and plans to continue her involvement in the family farm by working with her husband to grow their beef herd. Rachel hopes to integrate her passion and background in agriculture with her legal career. Rachel enjoys riding her horses, cooking, and baking in her free time.

David Lee

David K. Lee is the Chief Regulatory Officer for the Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada. He brings several decades of food and health product regulatory experience to advising the Branch on regulatory matters and the coordination of litigation.

He was previously the Director of the Office of Legislative and Regulatory Modernization. Prior to that, he was the Director of the Office of Patented Medicines and Liaison.

David received his law degree at Queen’s University. He has lectured extensively on intellectual property law and food and drug law both nationally and internationally.

Sara Eve Levac

Sara Eve Levac est avocate et analyste chez Option consommateurs. Chez Option consommateurs, elle s’intéresse notamment au droit de la concurrence et à la protection de la vie privée. Elle détient un baccalauréat en droit ainsi qu’un baccalauréat en relations internationales et droit international de l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Elle a complété une maitrise en droit international public à l’Université Leiden aux Pays-Bas.

Charles Levkoe

Charles Levkoe is the Canada Research Chair in Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems, a Member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada, Director of the Sustainable Food Systems Lab, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Lakehead University.

Kristen Lowitt

Kristen is an Assistant Professor in School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University. Her research goals are directed towards working with communities to build just and sustainable food systems in rural and coastal settings. Three main themes characterize my research program: a) the role of small-scale fisheries in sustainable food systems; b) Indigenous food sovereignty, and specifically reconciling Western natural resource management with Indigenous governance of land and water; and c) collective action and civil society participation in food systems governance. While my research is grounded in environmental studies and human geography, I draw upon a larger literature in the social sciences, including insights from sociology, regional and international development, environmental management, and political ecology. My research approach is based in partnership-building and co-production of research and knowledge with communities.

Danie Martin

Danie coordonne le Collectif québécois de la Coalition pour une saine alimentation scolaire depuis 2020. Ayant découvert à un jeune âge que l'alimentation est au centre de nos vies, elle a participé à des projets locaux universitaires dirigés par des étudiants sur l'écologie alimentaire et sociale, ce qui l'a amenée à travailler en tant que coordonnatrice du marché fermier de l'UQAM, puis aux communications du Réseau pour une alimentation durable où elle a connu le mouvement en alimentation scolaire. Elle milite depuis pour la création d'un programme d'alimentation scolaire au Québec et au Canada. Pour équilibrer les heures d'écran, Danie enseigne le yoga dans les Laurentides. Cycliste, grimpeuse et canoteuse amateure, elle est une amoureuse du plein air.

Heather McLeod Kilmurray

Full Professor and Co-Director of the Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability (CELGS) at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. Her research deals with food law, toxic torts, environmental justice, and climate change. She is a Board member of CAFLP, and member of the Ottawa Food Policy Council.

Daphnée B. Ménard

Daphnée B. Ménard est avocate et doctorante en droit à l'Université d'Ottawa sous la supervision de la professeure Sarah Berger Richardson. Ses recherches portent principalement sur le droit animalier et agroalimentaire. Notamment, son projet doctoral, financé par le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada, s'intéresse à l'autorégulation de l’industrie agroalimentaire en ce qui concerne les normes de production, et donc les conditions de vie des animaux d'élevage. Elle a précédemment occupé le poste de chargée de cours en droit animalier à l'Université McGill (2024) et à l'Université de Sherbrooke (2023).

Geneviève Mercille

Genevieve is socially engaged in the pursuit of food equity. She is an associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal and a researcher at the Centre for Public Health Research (CReSP). Additionally, she is a registered dietitian with a primary expertise in public health nutrition. Her research examines the interaction between social and environmental conditions and access to food, experiences of food insecurity, and nutrition among vulnerable populations in Québec and with First Nations in Canada. She also examines health promotion interventions for more equitable and sustainable food systems. She is committed to working with community organizations, institutions, and governments through participatory research approaches to provide scientific evidence for advancing practice and policy.

Anne Merritt

Anne is a 3L student in the English Common Law program at the University of Ottawa. Anne holds a master’s in Applied Linguistics from the University of Nottingham and prior to law school, she worked as a college and university English instructor. During her studies, Anne has volunteered with Pro Bono Students Canada and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and has worked as a research assistant in the areas of human rights law and AI ethics. She is interested in the legal and regulatory intersections of food access, food waste, and consumer protection.

Jennifer Quaid

Jennifer A Quaid, B Soc Sci (Econ) (Ottawa), LL.L/LL.B. (Ottawa), LLM (Cantab), LLM (Columbia), PhD (Queen’s), is an Associate Professor in the Civil Law Section at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law where she teaches criminal law, competition law and business law.

Widely recognized for her scholarly contributions and public policy engagement, Prof. Quaid’s expertise is centred on the use of the criminal law and regulation to enhance business accountability and to promote responsible management and commercial practices. Her current research projects focus on four areas: (1) competition law, market regulation and the digital economy, (2) Use of non-trial resolutions to settle charges of economic crime and general anti-corruption law, (3) regulation of business activity, including in relation to artificial intelligence, (4) organizational criminal law and sentencing.

A member of the Bars of Québec, Ontario and New York, Prof. Quaid practised law for several years, first with the federal Department of Justice and then in private practice for a leading New York firm before joining the academy. She clerked for the Honourable Frank Iacobucci of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Prof. Quaid is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). She is also a member of Transparency International Canada and is the current Chair of its Legal Committee. She was a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa from 2018-2021.

Alexandre Roussel-Canuel

Me Alexandre Roussel-Canuel est chef de la division du greffe et greffier adjoint à la Ville de Sherbrooke. En plus d’agir à titre de conseiller juridique auprès des différents services de la Ville et de participer à la rédaction des règlements municipaux, sa pratique dans le domaine municipal l’a amené à siéger à titre de secrétaire pour plusieurs instances, notamment le comité consultatif d’urbanisme et le comité consultatif agricole.

Chris Semerjian

Steven Slavens

Steven is a lawyer at Torys LLP. Steven has robust experience to support clients in supply chain, technology and a wide array of corporate and commercial matters. He advises clients across a broad spectrum of industries -- including, food and beverage, pharmacy and healthcare, and financial services.

Tasha Sioufi Stansbury

Tasha Sioufi Stansbury (she/her) is a PhD student and part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law. Her research focuses on culturally appropriate food, the human right to food, and the environmental impact of food trade. She holds an LL.M. from the University of Ottawa, a J.D. from the University of Windsor, and an Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto.

Roland Melaine Toe

Roland Melaine Toé est chargé de cours à l’Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) et candidat au doctorat LL.D. en droit à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Il est aussi inscrit au programme du Certificate in Law à Queen's University. Son sujet de thèse de doctorat porte l’intitulé « Vers une plus grande effectivité du régime de responsabilité internationale en matière de justice climatique ». Il est titulaire d’une Maîtrise LL.M. en droit de l’Université Laval, d’un Master 2 en droit international et européen des droits fondamentaux de l’Université de Nantes (Nantes Université), d’un Master 2 en droit international et comparé de l’environnement de l’Université de Limoges et d’un Certificat en droit de l’entreprise et du travail de l’UQO.

Laura Wilmot

Laura Wilmot is a PhD student in law at Université Laval's under the supervision of Geneviève Parent (with Sophie Thériault as co-director at the University of Ottawa). She holds a master's in environmental law, sustainable development, and food security, and has been working for First Nations in environmental law.

Claudette van Zyl

Claudette van Zyl has degrees in Political Science, Economics, and Classical Studies as well as in Law at McGill University. After completing a legal internship at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Claudette practiced law at Norton Rose Fulbright for seven years and is now at Fondaction Asset Management, an investment manager that invests hundreds of millions of dollars in sustainable development initiatives - including decarbonization projects and regenerative agriculture. She has published, taught, and practiced in various matters respecting international arbitration and sustainable development, including projects with the International Sustainable Development Law Organization, the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, and the Center for Intellectual Property Policy. She has contributed to the editing of a book on sustainable development principles in the decisions of international courts and tribunals and is co-author of a Jurisclasseur fascicule on collective marks which addresses geographical indications and certain aspects of the law respecting alcohol, as well as of a chapter in a book on the transformation of Cider in Québec.

While she was in private practice, Claudette pled the first case in Québec that issued an alcohol permit to an entirely virtual grocery store. Drawing from the legal principles of this case, she will expand on certain contemporary issues in the law respecting the distribution of food and alcohol.

Amanda Wilson

Julia Witmer

Julia Witmer is currently pursuing her Master of Laws (LL.M) degree at Columbia Law School. She is called to the Ontario Bar and is a graduate of the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University where she obtained specializations in Health Law and Policy and Aboriginal and Indigenous Law.

Julia is passionate about creating a better tomorrow for all Canadians and is particularly interested in the intersection of health, law, policy, and daily necessities, including food and housing. She is a recipient of the Gowling WLG – Joel Taller Prize for Emerging Voices in Food Law and articled at G.S. Jameson & Co. where she focused on corporate, commercial and regulatory food law. Prior to her LL.M, Julia worked as a Policy Analyst with the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq, supporting work on data sovereignty and nation rebuilding.

She believes in the power of law to support social movements and is looking forward to presenting at this year’s CAFLP conference.

Anthony K. Yan

Anthony is a third-year law student at the University of Western Ontario. He was raised in Hong Kong before moving to Toronto for his education. Throughout his studies, he has gained experience working at Community Legal Services, the legal clinic at Western which serves London-Middlesex . His interests lie in critical race theory and critical legal studies, human rights, and examining how domestic food law policies reinforce and sustain racial hegemony.