Eight prairie grain growers who formerly served as farmer-elected directors for the CWB are attempting to have their case in support of single desk grain marketing heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The former directors, including past CWB chair Allen Oberg, say the federal government acted illegally when it passed legislation aimed at ending the CWB’s marketing monopoly for wheat and barley grown in Western Canada.
The farmers argue that Ottawa should have honoured provisions in the former Canadian Wheat Board Act and held a farmer vote before stripping the board of its single desk marketing authority.
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The Supreme Court must now assess the application and determine whether the case should be heard.
“We believe that this case raises issues that are important to all Canadians and is worthy of careful consideration by the Supreme Court of Canada,” Oberg said.
Stewart Wells, a former CWB director involved in the application, said the case is bigger than farm policy and has important implications for all Canadians.
“It raises fundamental questions about whether government is above the law.”
Bill Gehl, a single desk supporter who chairs another pro-board group, the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, said the decision to take the case to the Supreme Court will not affect other CWB-related court actions that are underway.
He said the former directors should know within months if their application is accepted or rejected.
“It’s certainly something that we would hope to have looked at over the next few months,” he said.
Gehl did not say how much a Supreme Court hearing would cost, but suggested that much of the legal work supporting a Supreme Court hearing has already taken place.
As a result, any additional costs associated with arguing the case at the Supreme Court level will be relatively small.
The Supreme Court application is the latest legal volley in an ongoing battle between single desk supporters and the federal government.
Last year, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz introduced Bill C-18, which proposed the elimination of the CWB’s single desk marketing authority over wheat and barley.
Shortly after that, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the minister failed to comply with provisions in the CWB Act, which stipulated that farmers must be consulted before any legislative changes affecting the wheat board’s marketing mandate are introduced.
Ottawa successfully appealed that ruling at the Federal Court of Appeal and Bill C-18 became law in December.
Upon passage, Oberg and seven other farmer–elected directors were removed from the CWB.
