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Saturday, January 17, 1997
Emily C. General Elementary School
4th Line and Onondaga Road
Six Nations of the Grand River
| Time | Topic | Presenter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30 | Introductions | Terence Jamieson, SNEDC David Marcus, Natural Hemphasis |
| 10:00 | Overview and Research Needs | Ernest Small, Principal Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
| 11:00 | Hemp Agriculture and Licensing (Planting, growing, harvesting) | Gordon Scheifele, Northwestern Ontario Research Coordinator, University of Guelph |
| 12:00 | Lunch Break | |
| 1:00 | Products and Markets | David Marcus, Co-founder, Natural Hemphasis, Ltd. |
| 2:00 | Textile Applications | Meredith Cudney, Founder, Chautauqua Design |
| 2:30 | Hemp Futures | Doug Macpherson, Farm Management Advisor, Indian Agricultural Program of Ontario |
The Six Nations Economic Development Commission is organizing and facilitating this community seminar to introduce Six Nations farmers, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs to experts from the field. The purpose of this seminar is to increase awareness of the Six Nations community of emerging market opportunities for the many uses and applications of Industrial Hemp. Under Health Canada's recently proposed regulations Industrial Hemp will be able to be grown by Canadašs farmers for the first time in nearly 60 years.
On June 20, 1996, Bill C-8 was passed. The Senate amended the Narcotic Control Act to exclude non-psychoactive hemp stalk, from the list of controlled substances. Bill C-8 legalized hemp stalk and its products, demonstrating that the government is aware of the difference between the psychoactive and industrial strains of cannabis. Although licensing will continue to be a necessary prerequisite for growing Industrial Hemp, the primary obstacles to stimulating this commercial activity are coming down. Regulations for commercial hemp cultivation are expected to be in place for the 1998 season.
Industrial Hemp is non-intoxicating hemp, grows quickly and requires little or no pesticides and almost all of the plant can be used. Some of the varied uses of hemp include:
Ernest Small, Ph. D.
Dr. Ernest Small received a doctorate in plant evolution from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1969, and has since been employed with the Research Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, where he presently holds the status of Principal Research Scientist. Dr. Small's expertise is in taxonomy (theory and practice of classification of living things), evolution, plant identification, pollination biology, crop plants (especially forages, vegetables, culinary herbs, and medicinal plants), and biodiversity. He is the author of over 150 scientific publications on economic plants, including more than 20 on the topic of hemp. Dr. Small is widely regarded as the world's leading authority on the botany of hemp.
Gordon Scheifele, M.Sc.
Gordon Scheifele has an MSc in Plant Pathology and Genetics at Penn State University, Pennsylvania. Until 1990 he was a Pathologist/Breeder, Agronomist and Manager of Product Development in the private seed corn industry. From 1990-1997 he focused on corn production and alternative crop research as Research Scientist and Instructor at Ridgetown College, Ontario. Since 1995 Scheifele has been actively growing and researching hemp and he is currently the Northwestern Ontario Research Coordinator at the University of Guelph, Ontario.
David Marcus, M.B.A.
David Marcus is co-founder of Natural Hemphasis, a hemp research and consulting business and importer and distributor of fine hemp paper products. He has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario focusing on entrepreneurial studies. He co-authored two hemp-related case studies while at UWO (now part of the core curriculum) and completed an indpendent research project on the economics of commercial hemp production in Canada.
Meredith Cudney
Meredith Cudney is the founder of Chautauqua Designs, a Toronto-based natural fibre clothing company. She attended Toronto's Academy of Merchandising and Design, and has been designing and producing hemp clothing since 1994. Her company, Chautauqua, is also an importer of hemp fabric and has been active in promoting the ecological benefits of hemp since its inception.
If you plan on attending (and for directions), please RSVP:
TIM JOHNSON
Six Nations Economic Development Commission
P.O. Box 5000
Ohsweken, Ontario
N0A 1M0
(519) 445-0093 phone
(519) 445-4749 fax
snecdev@execulink.com