b'As we have this discussion, voting on the merger is still goingthe Strategic Plan document and would go on to work on. Whether or not CSGA members vote to join Seeds Canada,with two other A-listers like the accomplished facilita-is it Mission Accomplished for you? tor Warren Wilson and the consummate project manager Yes. It is time to turn the page. I have been doing this forJulie Fillion, to develop and pen the Seed Synergy Green a living for a quarter-century. As CSGA executive direc- Paper and the White Paper. When I look back, there were tor, I started with a change objective and worked witha lot of things like that, which paved the way to where others to build consensus. That is a big part of workingwe are now as an industry. Theres a domino effect to in government as well. Every four or five years there is aeverything, and the right dominoes were falling at the new government or minister or both, a new consensus toright point in time.be built and new files to be moved ahead. In the past 25 years, there has been a change in direction almost every time the government changes. So, I had lots of practice. Coming into the job at CSGA, I assessed whether theIN THE EVENT OF A NO VOTE, IT WILL conditions for success were there. It was apparent rightBECOME PAINFULLY EVIDENT WHAT THE off the bat that they were, so I took the plunge.COSTS OF AN OPPORTUNITY MISSED ARE How so?My predecessor Dale Adolphe agreed to stay on for severalAS THE GOVERNMENT FORGES AHEAD WITH months after I assumed the ED role to ensure the day-to-day tasks got done while I learned the ropes and focussedSEED REGULATORY MODERNIZATION, WITH on strategic direction. Dales last five years were some ofOR WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF A NATIONAL the most challenging CSGA had gone through, thanks to ASD, the shift to electronic platforms and going from oneSEED ORGANIZATION AND A STRONG SEED service provider (CFIA) to a combination of CFIA and 25 separate providers. It got complex fast. SECTOR VOICE.Fortunately for me, Dale and his team, [CSGA Certification & Technology Services Managing Director] Doug Miller, [Communications & Client Services Managing Director] Caroline Lafontaine, and others atLike what?CSGA and CFIA did the heavy lifting before I arrived.Like the CSGA boards decision to pick someone with They had solved most of the ASD development problemsmore government than industry experience when conven-at a practical level and operationally, things were goingtional wisdom might have suggested another direction. It smoothly. was a strategic choice, and fortunately for me, my board Soon after I joined, Mike Scheffel became availablekept making the right ones at every step, getting stronger and came on as our managing director of policy andfrom Day 1.standards. He and our other seed sage Randy PreaterEvery year since then, I have witnessed a new side (a former policy manager and currently senior advisor)of our board. They are a quiet, soft-spoken collection of added world-class expertise and leadership to the team.individuals, but they are as committed to transforming this sector, and as driven, as any group I know. After you took the reins, CSGA came out with its five-yearIn the beginning, there was Norm Lyster. He was in strategic plan, which surprised some people since the Seedthe second year of his presidency, and he was the perfect Synergy project had already been announced. What was yourperson to have as a first president. He knew everything thinking there?and everyone and understood how things really worked, We undertook a very comprehensive strategic planningto a greater degree of detail than anyone else. My next process that helped give us all a sense of where thepresident, Kevin Runnalls, was the opposite. He was the membership was ready to go and where the challengeslong-term strategic thinker and had no fear when it came would be. Basically, this served to validate the essentialto expounding on where he thought we should go. Then elements of the Seed Synergy proposition from a seedI inherited Jonathan Nyborg, who was a real star. He grower perspective and gave us the confidence to movecould find common ground and bring people together ahead aggressively. Leading us through this phase waswith an unequalled commitment to doing the right thing Monty Doyle. He was the consummate professional strate- for both the industry and his members.gist and organizational change specialist, one of the bestIf it had happened in a different order, it could have in the business with a soft spot for the seed industry. Hebeen a different outcome. Ultimately, there was serendip-brought in Jeremy Latta, who had just left the governmentity in terms of what was happening around me and those and was starting his consulting career. Jeremy pennedwho came into my life.36GERMINATION.CASEPTEMBER 2020'