BCFIRB board members

Gunta Vitins served as vice chair of BCFIRB from November 2023 to December 2024. Prior to that, she was chair of the BC Egg Marketing Board for 6 years, from November 2017 until November 2023. She has also held several leadership positions in industry organizations in Canada and the U.S.

With over 30 years of experience, Gunta has worked extensively in business and industry development, sales and marketing, trade, product development and regulatory affairs at national and international levels. She has spearheaded innovative initiatives in both the public and private sectors.

Gunta has worked with agricultural producers, processors, multi-national corporations, educational/research institutions, and governments including the BC Ministry of Agriculture. Her work in the private sector included senior management positions at Pro Organics and SunOpta Inc., companies recognized as global leaders in organic and natural foods worldwide.

Representing the interests of food distributors and retailers, she played a key role in the BCFIRB 2004/2005 Specialty Review of the B.C. supply-managed sectors. This effort led to significant growth in specialty production to meet market demand, positioning British Columbia as a leader in market responsiveness and innovation.

Gunta’s dedication to the advancement of agriculture extended to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Organic Value Chain Roundtable, where she served as industry chair, chair of the Market Development Working Group, and as a representative of the food distribution sector from 2007 to 2015.

Gunta received the Canadian Health Food Association’s Organic Achievement Award (2007) and the Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia (2005) in recognition of her leadership and achievements in the organic industry.

Gunta holds a B.Sc. and a Diploma in Agriculture and an MBA from McGill University. Gunta also has a B.Ed. from the University of British Columbia.

In addition, her volunteer activities included board memberships and leadership roles with several organizations, such as the:

• Canada Organic Trade Association
• US-based Organic Trade Association
• Pacific Agricultural Certification Society
• Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia

Dr. Jane Pritchard served as executive director of the Plant and Animal Health Branch, director of the Animal Health Centre, and chief veterinarian for the province of BC during her 17-year tenure with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

After retiring from the BC Public Service in 2021, Jane continued her leadership journey as interim registrar for 18 months at the College of Veterinarians of BC (CVBC), the licensing and regulatory body for veterinarians in the province.

Jane is currently the president of the council for CVBC, having been elected first as a member of the council.

Born in British Columbia, Jane gained extensive experience working across Canada, as well as in Europe, China, and Alberta, where she briefly farmed mixed cattle and grain. Her diverse career path reflects her commitment to agriculture and veterinary science.

Throughout her career with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Jane held various key positions, such as:

• Manager of the regulatory unit with oversight of dairy farms, bees, fur farms, and game farms
• Executive Director of the Plant and Animal Health Branch
• Public health veterinarian

Her work focused on advancing plant and animal health and ensuring regulatory oversight in these sectors.

Dr. Jane Pritchard graduated from the Ontario College of Veterinary Medicine in Guelph, Ontario.

David Wells holds leadership positions in education administration and on several boards and is a lawyer of Indigenous ancestry. Since July of 2019, David has been Vice President Academic and Applied Research at Vancouver Community College. For the previous five years, David was the Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Vancouver Community College. Prior to this, David was the Academic Dean and in-house Counsel for the NEC Native Education College.

As an education administrator, David builds organizational resilience and sustainability through operational stewardship and strategic counsel, and effectively manages complex issues involving competing stakeholders and conflicting worldviews. David has also served on boards of regulatory agencies and is well versed in administrative law.   David was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 2010.

David is actively engaged in several organizations:

• Indigenous Homelessness Steering Committee, Chair – Community Advisory Board for Service Canada Homelessness Partnership Strategy
• Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Chair
• British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer, Research Committee Member
• Charter Professional Accountants of British Columbia, Investigation Committee Member

Previously, David contributed to other organizations including:

• Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, Executive Committee Member
• Provincial Crown Regulatory Agency (PCTIA), Chair and Board Member
• Urban Indigenous Persons Advisory Council for the City of Vancouver
• Open Door Group

David holds memberships in several professional organizations:

• Law Society of British Columbia
• Aboriginal Lawyers Forum
• Metis Nations B.C.

David holds a Bachelors Degree and a Masters Degree in Political Science from Simon Fraser University, and a Law Degree from the University of British Columbia. He is currently working towards completing a PhD in Higher Education with the Ontario School of Instructor Education at the University of Toronto.

Abra has served on many boards, frequently in leadership roles. These include SeedChange Canada, where she served as Board Chair, the Kootenay Country Store Cooperative (Board President & longtime Director), Co-Chair of the Standards Review Committee of the Certified Organic Associations of BC, and was a member of the Agriculture & Agri-foods Canada Expert Committee on Organic Agriculture.

She is also a founding member of Kootenay Local Agricultural Society, the BC Food Systems Network, Food Secure Canada, and the Canadian Association of Food Law & Policy,  

Abra Brynne has been deeply involved in farming and food systems her entire life, beginning with a childhood on a farm in the Okanagan Valley, where her family belonged to a local tree fruit marketing cooperative. She has worked closely with farmers and on food systems for thirty years, with a focus on value chains and the regulatory regimes that impede or support them.

Abra is a sought-after agri-foods system consultant and has served as a policy advisor in the fisheries, meat, cannabis, and organic sectors. She was part of the team that produced a food flow study for Metro Vancouver, founded and was the Executive Director of the Central Kootenay Food Policy Council, served as the Policy Advisor at FarmFolk CityFolk, worked as a senior advisor on fisheries policy transition with EcoTrust Canada, and has held numerous short and long term contracts all related to food systems and agri-food sectors.

Abra has a Bachelors of Arts degree in Classics (First Class) from the University of Victoria and is currently pursuing an Interdisciplinary PhD at Dalhousie University, with a focus on the intersection of Indigenous food sovereignty and farmland.

Abra regularly participates in conference organizing with the Canadian Association of Food Law & Policy and sits on the strategic planning committee of the Canadian Association of Food Studies. She has volunteered with Kootenay Organic Growers Society for more than 25 years. She also regularly mentors civil society actors other graduate students undertaking food systems or policy research. 

Tara served in senior positions in the BC Public Service for over 20 years before retiring in 2025. For 22 years, she was inhouse Legal Counsel at the Environmental Appeal Board, Forest Appeals Commission, and Energy Resource Appeal Tribunal. She later served as a Deputy Supervising Counsel in the Natural Resource, Transportation, and Indigenous Legal Group within the Ministry of Attorney General.

In addition, Tara has served as Chair of the Fairway Gorge Paddling Club Society, and Chair of the Township of Esquimalt’s Environmental Advisory Committee.

As a lawyer, Tara’s work focused primarily on administrative law, natural resource law, and environmental law. As Legal Counsel to three natural resource tribunals, she gained extensive experience advising on a wide range of appeals under 15 provincial statutes. She also advised on policy matters and legislative changes affecting those tribunals.

As a Deputy Supervising Counsel in the Ministry of Attorney General, she led a team of lawyers and paralegals who advised eight provincial ministries and agencies on various subject areas including agriculture, water, forests, minerals, energy, waste management, and environmental protection. In that Ministry, Tara also advised on legal issues involving provincial lands, including land transfers to Indigenous communities under benefit agreements and Treaties.

In addition, Tara has taught environmental law as Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University, and been a guest speaker at the Faculty of Law in the University of Victoria.

She holds memberships in the Law Society of British Columbia and the Canadian Bar Association.

Before becoming a lawyer, Tara worked in various capacities in the Ministry of Forests, including forest resource planning, range land management, and firefighting.

Tara holds a law degree and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree from the University of Victoria. Tara was called to the British Columbia bar in 2000.

Tara has volunteered as director of the Fairway Gorge Paddling Club Society since 2016. She also volunteers as a mentor to law students at the University of Victoria. In her spare time, Tara enjoys canoeing on the Salish Sea and abroad.