The long-awaited and much-delayed hearing on the Canadian Wheat Board’s complaint about railway performance may be put off even longer.
The board last week asked the Canadian Transportation Agency to delay until May 4 public hearings scheduled to start in Saskatoon March 30.
A CTA spokesperson said the agency hoped to rule on the board’s request by the end of February.
Charles Mojsej said the decision will be based on legal considerations, and the logistical problems involved in delaying the hearing at this late date will not be a factor.
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“Personal comfort and schedules are not as important as getting this complaint heard … and dealing with it properly,” he said.
The complaint by the board was filed in April 1997. A decision was to have been rendered within 120 days. However, a series of legal disputes pushed the schedule back.
The CWB’s request for a one-month delay came after the Manitoba Court of Appeals ruled the board could bring back its original legal advisers on the case. That law firm had been removed from the case after a lower court ruled that it was in a conflict of interest because it had done legal work for CP Rail.
Ironically, the board accused the railways of unnecessarily delaying the hearings when they went to court over the conflict of interest issue last year.
CWB spokesperson Tracey Bryksa said bringing the original law firm back will strengthen the board’s chances of winning the complaint.
“We feel this is a reasonable amount of time to ask for,” she said, adding the case could have been decided long ago if the railways hadn’t made every effort to prevent it from going ahead.
A spokesperson for CN Rail had no comment on the board’s request or on whether the decision by the Court of Appeals would be appealed.
