b'2 CHALLENGESANDOPPORTUNITIESOnce again, the Tribunal will face major challenges for fis- However,thissituationalsoenablestheTribunalto cal year 2020-2021, especially in managing its workloadconductvirtualhearingsinordertomaintainthebest in a pandemic situation. After steady growth, the Tribunalpossible access to justice. is now confronted with a significant backlog of requests toThe full coming into force of the Safe Food for Canadians be reviewed, and it will be essential to ensure that casesAct and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations also are properly managed.adds operational pressure on the Tribunal. The February For the upcoming year, the Tribunal will continue to oper- 2020 amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations ate at full capacity within a limited budget framework. Inare not insignificant because they will certainly change fact, the average length of a hearing before the TribunalhowtheTribunalhaspreviouslyapproachedanimal is now four days in cases involving the Canadian Foodcrueltycases.Thecombinationoftheselegislative Inspection Agency. In addition, the Tribunal now has fourchanges is going to have an important impact on the members, resulting in a significant increase in fees to beTribunal because they contain several new violations that paid, and the budget must reflect this new reality.Stable,the Tribunal has not yet reviewed. Therefore, under the ongoing funding must be in place for the Tribunals oper- circumstances,itisimportantforallTribunalstaffto ations in order to preserve its jurisdictional responsibilitiescontinueanextensivetrainingprogrammeinorder and administrative autonomy. This situation is an oppor- to maintain their expertise.tunity to review the Tribunals budget in order to obtainThesechallengesarewhyimplementinganewcase additionalhumanandfinancialresourcesforensuringmanagementsystemiscritical.Thenextfiscalyear effective,fairandexpeditiousprocessingofrequestsprovidestheopportunitytotransitiontoanelectronic for review. Tribunal, resulting in greater efficiency. This tool is cru-As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tribunal hadcial and necessary to the Tribunal becoming a modern, to suspend all oral hearings for the first quarter of fiscaldynamic administrative tribunal, notably for the organiza-year 2020-2021 as well as mandatory case managementtion of virtual hearings.conferences. This situation adds additional pressure to managing the backlog and on the Tribunals financial cap-acity to hold a sufficient number of hearings in 2020-2021. 10 CANADA AGRICULTURAL REVIEW TRIBUNAL'