b'TAKING CANADA TO NEW HEIGHTSAnthony Parker is working to bolsterPlant Breeders Rights around the world as vice-president of the UPOV councilthe first Canadian to hold the position.Marc ZienkiewiczANTHONY PARKERhas been known in Canada for years as a staunch defender of Plant Breeders Rights (PBR), and hes just taken his experiences and expertise in that department to the global level. Parker, commissioner of the Plant Breeders Rights office at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), has become the first Canadian to sit on the global coun-cil of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) as vice-president. An intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Switzerland, UPOV is at the forefront of setting guid-ance on PBR for the world, with members from 78 coun-tries including Canada.UPOV is a consensus-based organization. It came into existence in the 1960s, morphing into an international system for protecting new plant varieties. All member countries have to be on board with the decision to elect its president and vice-president. Its up to the current outgoing president to identify potential can-didates who they think might serve well in the role, and then they canvass other members to see if theres support. Parker was approached, and quite surprisedit wasnt something he thought very much about, he says. As a public servant, if others believe that you have value to offer, how can you say no to that? I was hon-oured and humbled to be asked.As vice-president, Parker will help lead UPOV deci-sion-making and further strengthen PBR not only in Canada, but in all UPOV member countries. Moving to UPOV 91Parker was born in 1970 and grew up on a farm just outside Ottawa. He originally trained to be a plant breeder, but found himself working in the regula-4GERMINATION.CAJANUARY 2023'