b'PEERING INTOFUTURETHECandidates for the proposed Seeds Canada inaugural board have reached out via the virtual realm to give the public a taste of the seed industry of tomorrow.Marc ZienkiewiczIT HAD TO HAPPEN virtually, but can- items and a lot of issues to dealCanada officially be a thing come didates for the board of Canadaswith, Churko said.Feb. 1 of next year, he said creating a proposed new national seed organi- There were some tough daysnew philosophy among members of zationSeeds Canadaheld theirwhen relationships were pushedthe seed industry will be an exercise first communication with the publicpretty far and there was an aggres- in patience and coming together.this summer via a series of webinarssive pace to get the work done.We all have similar values but on which they and others spokeThere were days we were exhausted.different traditions with different about the future and what they seeIncorporating regional viewpointslevels of detail. Culture was a factor coming down the road. while ascertaining the role of a uni- woven through every discussion. We Subject to member approval, thefied and national organization waslearned about each other, found some Canadian Seed Growers Associationnot easy. common ground, and were effective (CSGA), the Canadian Seed TradeIn many ways, work is onlyat moving the process forward. Even Association (CSTA), the Canadianbeginning when it comes to forg- once Seeds Canada becomes a real-Seed Institute (CSI), the Commercialing the future of our industry underity, there will be days when we have Seed Analysts Association of Canadathe Seeds Canada banner. At pressto treat each other with grace and (CSAAC) and the Canadian Planttime, voting on the proposed mergerprop each other up. I have complete Technology Agency (CPTA) willand formation of Seeds Canada wasconfidence this is the right move for amalgamate to create Seeds Canadastill going on, and if the mergerall of us. the next generation seed organiza- goes ahead, Seeds Canada would tion thats been nearly five years innot officially become an entity untilBoard Candidates Speakthe making. Feb. 1, 2021. In the event any of theEllen Sparry, general manager of Its been a long road, said Seedassociations voted no to the merger,Ontarios C&M Seeds and candidate Synergy Oversight Committeethere would an opportunity to holdfor the proposed Seeds Canada inau-member Chris Churko. The CEO ofanother vote prior to the end of 2020. gural board, said we shouldnt expect FP Genetics said when the OversightYou need to understand the fiveto get everything perfect right off the Committee started working on aamalgamating associations are criticalbat once Seeds Canada is officially a Seeds Canada target operating model,pieces of the system we have today.reality. one of the biggest eye openers forIf any one of them werent or arentTheres a great quote from Martin him was the sheer number of jobsthere at the table going forward, thatLuther King saying, You dont have that each of our industrys associa- does jeopardize our reputation as ato see the whole staircase, just take tions was responsible for.supplier of quality, safe, innovativethe first step. We have a good final We had an idea of what they allproducts, Churko added. goal defined for where we want to be did, but it became clear each organi- If he had to pick one major chal- and how to move forward.zation had a long list of activities theylenge in working to develop theRegardless of how the voting pro-offered that needed to be integratedproposed new organization, it wouldcess is to play out, Quentin Martin into Seeds Canada. There were bigbe corporate culture. Should Seedssaid there is much work to be done 4GERMINATION.CASEPTEMBER 2020'