The federal government denies claims that it maliciously prosecuted western Canadian farmers for taking wheat and barley into the United States without a permit.
In a statement of defence filed with the federal court on behalf of the attorney general of Canada, the government asked the court to dismiss the claim made by 15 prairie farmers in January.
The farmers have asked the court for $2 million each in exemplary and punitive damages for the 10-year court battle waged before their convictions were overturned or new trials were ordered.
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The farmers’ claim said the government caused the plaintiffs to suffer “long-term mental anguish, emotional pain, character defamation, abusive stress and financial hardship to the family members” when it pursued cases it knew it couldn’t win.
But the statement of defence denies “the charges were unenforceable or fabrications, and states that they were proper charges preferred pursuant to valid legislation in response to the plaintiffs’ deliberate violation of the Canadian Wheat Board Act, the Customs Act and the Reporting of Exported Goods regulations.”
The statement said the attorney general does not admit to causing mental anguish, emotional pain or any of the other hardships outlined in the statement of claim.
“The attorney general states that the plaintiffs were fully aware that the CWB was the exclusive marketer of wheat and barley produced in Canada and that exporting of grain by other persons was prohibited,” the government’s statement of defence said.
