The Canadian Wheat Board has launched a legal challenge against the federal government, contending that Ottawa’s efforts to amend wheat board legislation without first holding a farmer plebiscite are illegal.
CWB chair Allen Oberg announced the legal action Oct. 26 at a grain farm outside of Winnipeg.
“They (CWB legal counsel) feel we have a case that is perfectly arguable in the courts and we intend to proceed with that case no matter what,” said Oberg.
“Some have said we should give up this fight and bow to the inevitable. We will not. We will certainly do everything in our power to fight back against these tactics by the federal government.”
Oberg did not say how much the legal challenge would cost.
The challenge will be financed with money from farmers’ pool accounts.
Oberg said CWB directors supporting the challenge are hopeful that the case will be heard quickly and that a ruling will come quickly so as to minimize uncertainty in the Canadian grain industry.
The CWB lawsuit was announced just hours after farmer-elected wheat board director Henry Vos submitted his resignation.
Vos, who cited deep political division within the board, said he decided to resign shortly after the board decided Oct. 25 to launch the lawsuit against Ottawa.
“This (lawsuit) will create more uncertainty for our farmers, more uncertainty for our customers and for the people handling our grain,” Vos said.
“At this point, the organization has become a political opposition party and if I’d wanted to be part of a political opposition party, I’d have bought a membership.”
A day after the CWB announced its legal challenge, the Western Canadian Wheat Growers announced that it would be launching its own legal action against the CWB.
WCWGA chair Gerrid Gust said his organization is challenging the CWB decision to finance its lawsuit using pool accounts.
