Q&A Panelists
Simon Jacques
Simon is OCO’s representative on the Organic Federation of Canada and an Inspector and Input Review Officer for EcoCert Canada. He also farms 120 acres of organic field crops, and owns an organic mushroom compost business. Simon is deeply knowledgeable of Canada’s Organic Standards, and has a particular interest in the Organic Standards as they relate to crop inputs. He has participated in the OFC’s recent Standards Review Process in the “Permitted Substances List; Crops” working group, with the aim of making the Canadian Organic Standards more sustainable.
Rob Wallbridge
Rob is the Organic Specialist for Thompsons Limited and a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA-ON). Prior to that he operated a mixed farm, selling certified organic vegetables to consumers, retailers, and chefs in the Ottawa area, and worked as a consultant in the organic sector, including over 13 years on the Member Relations Team of the Organic Meadow Co-operative, providing extension services to organic and transitional-organic farmers across Ontario. He is an IOIA-trained organic inspector, has volunteered on the Livestock Working Group of the CGSB Technical Committee on Organic Standards since 2008, sits on the Organic Value Chain Round Table, and is an elected member of the Organic Standards Interpretation Committee.
Nicole Boudreau
Nicole Boudreau is a biologist (B.S.C. Sherbrooke University) and a communicator (B.A. McGill University). She has been involved in the Canadian organic sector since 2005, working as a supervision officer for CARTV, and being the coordinator of the Organic Federation of Canada since 2007. She is the manager of the Canadian Standards Interpretation Committee and the co-manager of the Organic Science Cluster II Project with the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. She was the coordinator of the 2 year review of the Canadian Organic Standards that led to the publication of the 2015 version of the COS and is preparing the 2020 revision of the COS.