In July 2014, a three-year investigation by the CFIA into the operations of Mucci International Marketing Inc. and Mucci Pac Ltd. found that $1 Million worth of tomatoes labeled as a “Product of Canada” were, in fact, imported from Mexico. The investigation resulted in charges being laid against these companies as well as two Mucci Farms executives and on June 6, 2016, CFIA issued massive penalties against Mucci Farms: the corporations were convicted and fined $1.2 million and sentenced to three years of probation and the executives were fined $150,000 each and sentenced to three months of probation.  With victim fine surcharges, the total fine meted out could eclipse $1.9 million.

On this episode of the podcast, you'll hear me speak alongside food lawyer Dan Kutcher of Cox & Palmer's Summerside, PEI, office at Law Hour, a one-hour lecture each geared at engaging students with presentations by guest speakers about current legal issues, at Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. Because Dan's practice is in PEI, his is distinctly focused on export markets and international standards for seafood. Dan has worked with Michigan State's Institute for Food Laws and Regulations and has developed an interest in food law at a personal level. We talk about the development of our expertise in food law as being a way to make a better, more useful lawyer for clients.

This episode is about the fundamental act of gardening. It's about enabling people who haven't had the privilege to become literate in nutrition and growing and stewardship. And it's about the net effect of that agency and enablement.

Frank Portman reads case law daily, at a volume that few lawyers match once they leave law school. It's integral to his job, which is in an area of law that is considered relatively fluid when compared to most other areas of practice.

He also works in a more grizzly area of practice - not for the faint of heart - health and safety regulation. You may remember this mid-2000s WSIB spot about a young woman being scalded while working as a sous-chef in what I consider the most NSFL PSA ever broadcast on television. Well, those accidents actually happen and the crown generally has something to say about the workplaces in which they occur. This is what Frank does.