Gordon Wallace says he’s determined to see his class action lawsuit against Canadian National Railway carried though to a decision.
One thing he doesn’t know is who will be his lawyer.
Wallace, who farms near Unity, Sask., filed the lawsuit in December 2008, alleging that the railways have overcharged farmers for hauling grain for at least two decades.
The suit says the railways should compensate all farmers who shipped grain during that period, an amount that could exceed $1 billion.
The issue of Wallace’s lawyer came about when a Court of Queen’s Bench judge ruled in Saskatoon last fall that his law firm, McKercher LLP, should be disqualified because it had previously done unrelated legal work for the rail company.
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McKercher has appealed that ruling to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
While no date has been set for a hearing, McKercher lawyer Joel Hesje said he has been told it will likely be in September.
“Everything is kind of in abeyance pending the resolution of that,” he said.
In the meantime, McKercher is continuing to act as Wallace’s lawyer against the other defendants: Canadian Pacific Railway and the federal government. A lawyer from Toronto has been hired to handle the court of appeal case.
Wallace said he will continue with McKercher in the action against CN if he prevails at the court of appeal.
He’s not sure what will happen next if he loses.
“We’re just hoping this appeal will get looked at as quickly as possible and we hope it gets decided in our favour,” he said. “It looks positive.”
The fate of Wallace’s lawsuit is also caught up with a similar class action suit launched in October 2009 on behalf of several Saskatchewan farmers by Merchant Law Group in Regina.
A judge is expected at some point to determine if these are legitimate class action suits and which one should go ahead.
Wallace said he has no idea how long his lawsuit will take to be decided.
“When this started I joked that I hope I’m still farming when we get to the end of this,” he said with a laugh. “I guess I hope I don’t get outlasted, put it that way.”
Hesje acknowledged the delays are frustrating, but added it takes an average of three years in Saskatchewan between filing a statement of claim and certification as a class action suit.
