A legal battle that began six years ago between the Saskatchewan government and a group of game farmers is one step closer to resolution.
In a judgment rendered Jan. 28, the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench ruled that legal action launched by disgruntled game farmers can proceed as a class action suit.
The group, led by Maidstone, Sask., elk producer Roger Holland, is seeking compensation for financial losses related to the disappearance of elk and deer markets after the discovery of chronic wasting disease in the province’s farmed elk population.
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The case stems back to 2004, after Holland and other cervid producers refused to sign documents that absolved the government of liability following the discovery of CWD in farmed elk herds.
According to Holland, farmers who refused to sign the documents were told that the status of their herds would be downgraded to the lowest level available under a provincial herd certification program.
The herd certification program, administered by Saskatchewan Agriculture, assigned deer and elk herds with one of seven status levels. Each level in the system signified that CWD was not present in the herd for a specific period of time.
It program was designed to monitor CWD in farmed cervid populations and eventually, to ensure that all herds in the province were free of the disease.
According to Holland, refusal to sign documents absolving the government of liability resulted in his farm being downgraded to the surveillance level, the lowest level offered under the program.
As a result, Holland said he lost any chance of selling his animals. Surveillance level farms, considered a relatively high risk for CWD infection, were prohibited from selling animals.
“There were no markets left anymore for any farms at the surveillance level,” said Holland.
Holland believes 237 deer and elk farmers refused to sign waiver documents in 2003.
However, losses incurred by some were small or non-existent because some producers were small hobby farmers and others owned farms that were already at surveillance level.
The case has been through four different courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in 2008 that the government illegally ignored a previous court ruling that ordered the restoration of herd status and compensation for producers.
The most recent ruling by Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench clears the way for a class action proceeding.
Reynold Robertson, the lawyer representing the farmer group, said the next step will be the submission of a statement of defence by the province.
The government has also been ordered to provide mailouts to class action members, place newspaper ads and set up a website providing information for plaintiffs.
The class action suit does not imply that government negligence was responsible for the appearance of CWD on game farms.
“This whole nightmare started when the government reduced the certification status of our herds,” said Holland, who owned 215 elk when his herd certification status was downgraded.
“Our farmers have suffered severe losses. We are not begging for handouts. Just to be compensated for government wrongdoing.”
