ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018 21 In 2018-2019, the Tribunal will face a number of growth opportunities. Moreover, considerable challenges await the Tribunal over the next fiscal year, including an increase in the volume of cases, in the complexity of these files, and the management of a backlog. One of the factors contributing to the increase in the Tribunal’s workload is the addition of categories of violations under the Meat Inspection Act and the Meat Inspection Regulations. The adoption of legislative amendments, of a new law and of a new regulation result in a tremendous amount of internal work. Admittedly, in order to be able to apply new legislative and regulatory provisions, their scope and constituent elements must first be determined. In such cases, new legal tests must be established, which means taking the essential elements of these new violations that must be proven by the agencies and producing an in-depth analysis. This analysis will have to be done by the Tribunal’s members and lawyers. The increase in the Tribunal’s workload is also attributed to greater flexibility in applying the eligibility criteria for cases compared to recent years, thereby promoting access to justice. In addition, the Tribunal has seen an increase in the number of self-represented parties. This requires much more time and energy from the Tribunal’s staff to help those parties fully understand the procedure and the Practice Notes. As such, the Tribunal will have to deal with a significant increase in the complexity of cases as well as of the volume of work. This increase will result from several sources, including the increase in the number of witnesses, the volume of the evidence, and the number of preliminary motions raised by parties, to name just a few. There is also an increase in the demand for simultaneous interpretation for languages other than English or French. All things considered, the combination of all of these factors will contribute to the increase in complexity and volume of work, resulting in hearings that can last three to five days, and sometimes longer. This is the Tribunal’s new reality! Therefore, there is a significant risk that the increased workload will trigger needs for additional human and financial resources for the Tribunal. Challenges and Opportunities