All farmers who sold grain through the Canadian Wheat Board should be eligible for a share of the board’s assets after it is dismantled, a Regina lawyer said Jan. 9 after launching a class action lawsuit against Ottawa.
Tony Merchant said the assets including cash, hopper cars, the Winnipeg office building and intangibles are worth $15.4 billion.
“Farmers should sign on whether they are pro-board or anti-board because they’ll get compensation even if they are in favour of dismantling the Canadian Wheat Board,” he said in an interview.
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Unlike when the federal government discontinued the Crow Benefit transportation subsidy and offered compensation, the current government has said the board will maintain its assets and continue to operate. But Merchant said he wouldn’t bet on the board’s ability to do that without its monopoly.
The lawsuit was launched in the name of Woodrow, Sask., farmer and former federal Liberal candidate Duane Filson.
Filson said his discontent over how Ottawa has handled the monopoly issue is no secret. When the Merchant group approached him to put his name on the lawsuit he decided it was a good idea.
“In effect, the assets that we have owned as farmers have been taken away from us,” he said.
If those assets are sold, there is a question of who would get the proceeds, he said.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said in an e-mail that he was disappointed to see “further misguided legal action.”
“This baseless action in no way affects the duly passed Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act or western farmers’ ability to forward contract right now for an open market on Aug. 1, 2012,” he said.
The lawsuit claims about $300 million in farmer money is owed to the class because it originated from the pool accounts.
This includes $100 million in the contingency fund, $65 million for the down payment on Great Lakes freighters, a $102 million valuation on 3,402 hopper cars and the office building worth $14 million.
Intangible assets are the value of the CWB model, Merchant said, and include more than $5.3 billion in sustained annual wheat price premiums, $2.1 billion in annual barley price premiums, and $7.7 billion in logistics and transportation savings. Merchant said the valuations were obtained from “eminent” economists.
The lawsuit claims the government “unlawfully re-purposed tangible assets and intangible assets of the CWB from farmers/producers” and is causing damage to the plaintiff and the class.
Farmers who want to join the class may go to www.merchantlaw.com to sign up but Merchant said that isn’t required.
He expects the class will be certified within six months and go to trial within two years. Merchant added that Ottawa could decide before the trial that compensation for the loss of the board should be paid.
He said the political question of whether to dismantle the board is not at the heart of the class action.
