A Manitoba court has decided not to suspend a federal law ending the Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing monopoly.
Former wheat board elected directors as individuals filed in December an application in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, asking it to rule Bill C-18 invalid because, they said, it violated the rule of law and that the issue should be settled by farmers. They also asked for an injunction suspending the law until a court could rule on the law’s validity. The request for an immediate injunction was rejected Dec. 16.
Today, the judge dismissed the former directors’ motion and said there would be no injunction to suspend the new law.
“I have concluded that the plaintiffs have not demonstrated that there is a serious question to be tried,” wrote Judge Shane Perlmutter in the 29-page court document.
Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz celebrated the court’s ruling .
“We are working with farmers, the grain value chain, the CWB and provincial partners to ensure an orderly transition to a dual-marketing system that encourages entrepreneurs to seize new markets, increase sales, and drive the economy,” Ritz said in a news release.
“The Harper Government remains focused on doing what is best for the agricultural sector by giving farmers the right to choose how they market their grain.”
After the judgement, the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, as a member of the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board, said in a news release it would continue to support a constitutional challenge to Ottawa’s dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board.
A Federal Court ruled in December that Ritz had breached the existing law by not consulting with the CWB or holding a farmer vote before introducing the legislation. Ottawa has appealed that ruling.
On Feb. 15 the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board launched a class action suit seeking to restore the Canadian Wheat Board and recover damages that farmers are alleged to have suffered as a result of the dismantling of the board’s monopoly.
In January another class action was launched by Regina lawyer Tony Merchant arguing farmers who sold grain through the CWB should be eligible for a share of the board’s assets after it is dismantled.
