Farmers behind a class action lawsuit against the federal government are continuing their march to Canada’s highest court.
Documents related to their case regarding CWB pool account funds were filed Dec. 16, according to a news release.
The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board had originally filed a $17 billion suit related to the dismantling of CWB’s single desk powers and confiscated property.
A judge rejected that effort, but a smaller suit was allowed to proceed.
“The recent Federal Court of Appeal ruling gave a green light for the class action to proceed with the parts of the case based on the misallocation of CWB pool account funds in 2011-12,” Winnipeg lawyer Anders Bruun said in the news release.
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“This part of the class action will be going forward regardless of the results of this leave to appeal application.”
Four farmers are named as plaintiffs: Harold Bell of Fort St. John, B.C., Andrew Dennis of Brookdale, Man., Nathan Macklin of DeBolt, Alta., and Ian McCreary of Bladworth, Sask.
“I’m glad the plaintiffs have elected to give the Supreme Court the opportunity to address the inconsistency in lower court rulings holding that farmers have a right to advance a claim for pool account monies yet do not have a right to the property bought and paid for with those pool account monies,” said Stewart Wells, chair of the Friends of the CWB.
