L-R: Brian Gilroy, CHC president; Tom O’Neill, Honourary Life Member; Linda Delli Santi, Outstanding Achievement Award; Rebecca Lee, CHC executive director; Tracy Shinners-Carnelley, Doug Connery Award; Shirley Archambault, Honourary Life Member

On March 11, Canadian Horticultural Council president Brian Gilroy presented four awards to deserving recipients in Ottawa, Ontario. Here are excerpts from his commendations. 

Tom O’Neill,Simcoe, Ontario, Honourary Life Member, has been with the Norfolk Fruit Growers’ Association (NFGA) since 1983, and has been general manager since 1991, overseeing storing, packing and marketing. He has represented the Apple Marketers’ Association of Ontario at the former Ontario Apple Marketing Commission, Ontario Apple Growers, Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association and the Canadian Horticultural Council. He also served as the Canadian representative to the U.S. Apple Association from 1992 to 2000. In 2019, he made the Vineland Growers’ Cooperative the exclusive marketer of the association’s fresh apples. 

Linda Delli Santi, Langley, British Columbia,winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award, is executive director of the BC Greenhouse Growers’ Association and has served as chair of the CHC Greenhouse Vegetable Working Group since 2007. Her valuable leadership has been pivotal in developing a collaborative national forum for greenhouse vegetable growers. She is currently co-chair of the Greenhouse Task Force leading the Canadian industry-government response to Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus.

Tracy Shinners-Carnelley, Carman, Manitoba,winner of the Doug Connery Award, is vice president, Research & Quality at Peak of the Market. She leads the research program which is focused on variety evaluation, improved pest management, and optimization of agronomic practices for fresh market potatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes.  

She also spends time working with growers in their fields and packing houses, supporting activities in these same areas.  In her early days at Peak of the Market, she worked with Doug Connery before his untimely passing, and continues to work with Connery Riverdale Farms as a valuable resource. 

Shirley Archambault,Ottawa, Ontario, Honourary Life Member, joined the Canadian Horticultural Council in 1998 as a policy affairs coordinator where she was responsible for coordinating Minor Use Pesticide Projects, liaising with registrants, coordinating IR-4 field research in Canada and working with grower groups and various stakeholders.  

She joined Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 2003 with the establishment of the Pest Management Centre and launching of the Minor Use Pesticide Program. Through her work both before and during her tenure as international and industry affairs officer at the Pest Management Centre, Archambault has been a key contributor to the competitive parity of Canadian growers with their American counterparts, by ensuring growers have access to the same safe, effective pest control products. 

Staff with notes from the Canadian Horticultural Council.