The Canadian Wheat Board has retained its single desk marketing authority over barley as a result of a Federal Court decision handed down just hours before an open market was scheduled to go into effect.
In the July 31 ruling, justice Dolores Hansen ruled that the federal government did not have the power to remove barley from the board’s authority through regulation change.
She said the Canadian Wheat Board Act requires that it be carried out through legislation passed by Parliament.
The ruling came following a two-day hearing in Calgary last week, during which lawyers from the board, Friends of the CWB, the federal government and the three prairie provincial governments debated the legality of the government’s plan.
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In her 18-page written decision, Hansen rejected the government’s argument that the act provided two alternative methods for moving barley, saying the legislation clearly sets out the conditions for removing barley, including passage of a bill through Parliament.
“… the power to include barley is delegated to the Governor in Council (cabinet) but the power to exclude is reserved to Parliament,” she wrote.
CWB minister Chuck Strahl said in a news release he was disappointed with the ruling and the government would review the decision before deciding what to do next.
Ken Ritter, chair of the CWB, said the agency will work to develop marketing options for barley growers, in terms of pricing, payment and delivery.
“We will work hard to find new ways to create marketing choices for farmers without stripping away the marketing power of their single desk.”
The board will also have find a way to deal with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of barley reportedly sold by farmers to private grain companies and maltsters in anticipation of an open market.
The pro-open market Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association urged the government to order the board to issue export licences to private companies and farmers, and to allow domestic processors to buy directly from farmers.
The Canadian Wheat Board has retained its single desk marketing authority over barley as a result of a Federal Court decision handed down just hours before an open market was scheduled to go into effect.
In the July 31 ruling, justice Dolores Hansen ruled that the federal government did not have the power to remove barley from the board’s authority through regulation change.
She said the Canadian Wheat Board Act requires that it be carried out through legislation passed by Parliament.
The ruling came following a two-day hearing in Calgary last week, during which lawyers from the board, Friends of the CWB, the federal government and the three prairie provincial governments debated the legality of the government’s plan.
In her 18-page written decision, Hansen rejected the government’s argument that the act provided two alternative methods for removing barley, saying the legislation clearly sets out the conditions for removing barley, including passage of a bill through Parliament.
“… the power to include barley is delegated to the Governor in Council (cabinet) but the power to exclude is reserved to Parliament,” she wrote.
CWB minister Chuck Strahl said in a news release he was disappointed with the ruling and the government would review the decision before deciding what to do next.
Ken Ritter, chair of the CWB, said the agency will work to develop marketing options for barley growers, in terms of pricing, payment and delivery.
“We will work hard to find new ways to create marketing choices for farmers without stripping away the marketing power of their single desk.”
The board will also have find a way to deal with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of barley reportedly sold by farmers to private grain companies and maltsters in anticipation of an open market.
The pro-open market Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association urged the government to order the board to issue export licences to private companies and farmers, and to allow domestic processors to buy directly from farmers.
