Remove pkg_resources imports and use packaging instead

[davnn]

📝 Description

The pkg_resources module is deprecated and does not export the required symbols in newer versions. It is advised to use packaging or importlib instead. Because we only rely on functionality present in packaging, the change from pkg_resources to packaging should be straightforward.

✨ Changes

Select what type of change your PR is:

• [ x ] 🐞 Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• [ ] 🔨 Refactor (non-breaking change which refactors the code base)
• [ ] 🚀 New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• [ ] 💥 Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
• [ ] 📚 Documentation update
• [ ] 🔒 Security update

✅ Checklist

Before you submit your pull request, please make sure you have completed the following steps:

• [ x ] 📋 I have summarized my changes in the CHANGELOG and followed the guidelines for my type of change (skip for minor changes, documentation updates, and test enhancements).
• [ - ] 📚 I have made the necessary updates to the documentation (if applicable).
• [ - ] 🧪 I have written tests that support my changes and prove that my fix is effective or my feature works (if applicable).

For more information about code review checklists, see the Code Review Checklist.

[davnn]

Should be fixed, please merge.

[samet-akcay]

Our CI is currently down. Once fixed, we'll prioritise this PR