Seeds Canada President Ellen Sparry sat down with Marc Zienkiewicz in Ottawa, Ont., during the first in-person Seeds Canada Semi-Annual Meeting held this week to discuss what’s on the policy agenda, including the Seed Regulatory Modernization (SRM) file and how she feels now that the findings of the first three SRM task teams are trickling out to the membership.
“At this point, we’re only allowed to have those discussions within the members room, but are pretty excited that those reports are starting to come out. We’re starting to be able to share those some of those findings and how they align with our principles with our members,” she said.
“We’re also hopeful that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is going to be able to release those in a more public way in the new year. So I think that’ll be exciting for everyone to understand what’s in them and what the process is going to be.”
Sparry began her second year as Seeds Canada president in July, and as she prepares to pass the torch next summer, she said the biggest lesson she’s learned while on the board is to be a good listener.
“That becomes even more important when you’re in an organization like this and bringing people together — you need to respect everyone’s opinions as well. You go through life and you develop experiences, and you proceed on.”
