Saskatchewan game farmers can pursue a class-action lawsuit against the government for negligence, the Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously ruled.
The case stems back to 2004 when about 200 elk farmers launched the legal action against the Saskatchewan government for changes it made to chronic wasting disease surveillance programs.
Roger Holland of Maidstone, Sask., said he and other elk and deer farmers lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because they were unable sell their animals. They refused to sign documents absolving the government of liability after the CWD outbreaks in farmed herds.
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As a result, their herd status was downgraded to the lowest level and they couldn’t market their animals.
An earlier court ruling said the government couldn’t do that and should restore herd health status and pay compensation.
But the government didn’t follow the judge’s orders, leading to the class action.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal dismissed it, saying governments were immune from negligence claims. However, the Supreme Court agreed last August to hear the case.
In its written decision last week, the court allowed part of the case to proceed.
Chief justice Beverley McLachlin wrote that the appeal court had not addressed the farmers’ claim that governments are expected to follow court orders.
“The implementation of a judicial decision is an operational act that public authorities are expected to carry out,” she wrote. “Therefore, in this case, it is not clear that an action in negligence based on the breach of a duty to implement a judicial decree could not succeed in law.”
However, she upheld the Saskatchewan appeal court’s ruling that the farmers’ claim that the government acted outside the law did not constitute negligence.
Decision pleases farmers
Holland said the plaintiffs were pleased with the Supreme Court decision.
“They did their job well and we’re quite happy with it,” he said.
He expects the matter could return to court in September.
Although Holland has kept only a few of his 215 elk because he couldn’t afford to keep them at a cost of $500 per year, he said he will continue to pursue the case. Some farmers have lost everything, he said.
