Gene Splicing Policy, Backyard Chickens, and our Guest Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries … [Video]

Live from the tradeshow floor of the SIAL food innovation show in Toronto. Our exceptional guest is Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food André Lamontagne (https://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/deputes/lamontagne-andre-15401/biographie.html) , who pays us a visit to our bespoke podcasting studio in Toronto. We talk with the Minister about food innovation in the Province and the government’s best role in moving the industry forward for the people and hand out magic wands to discover the art of the possible.

In food news, we talk about the wisdom and regulation of Gene editing with Crisper, backyard chickens and the avian flu, AI’s bright outlook until it maybe kills us all, and the somewhat surprising resilience of restaurant home delivery post-pandemic. 

Backyard chicken Photo by amy lynn grover (https://unsplash.com/@amylynngrover?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/photos/KPjHuiEcFrw?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)

About Minister Lamontagne

Born in Saint-Félicien in 1960, André Lamontagne earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Université Laval. He has also completed training in counselling, psychotherapy and transactional analysis at the Eastwind Institute in Halifax. He holds a master’s degree in educational psychology and human relations from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, and also has a commercial helicopter pilot license.

Before going into politics, Mr. Lamontagne had a career in business. He owned three supermarkets, co-owned a network of 20 travel agencies across multiple regions of Quebec, served as president and co-owner of a management consulting firm, and owned a company specializing in helicopter purchase, reconditioning, resale and rental. He has also worked as a consultant and coach for executive clients, primarily in the business community. Over the years, he has been an investor and director at many technology companies in the manufacturing, e-commerce and industrial sectors.

In 2014, Mr. Lamontagne made the switch to politics when he was elected MNA for the electoral district of Johnson under the banner of Coalition Avenir Québec. He continued in this role when he was reelected in 2018. After his reelection, the Premier appointed him Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Minister Responsible for the Centre-du-Québec Region. He was reconducted Minister in 2022.

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

About Michael

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi’s, Black & Decker, Hudson’s Bay, Today’s Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.  (https://rethink.industries/