Farmers seeking to block the introduction of an open market for barley are asking the Federal Court to hear their case in mid-July.
The government says it intends to implement the open market Aug. 1.
The court challenge launched by Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board, or FCWB, would normally take four or five months.
FCWB lawyer Anders Bruun said an early hearing is needed to avoid having the government’s actions ruled illegal by the court after the open market has already been implemented.
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That would create chaos in the market and problems for farmers, grain marketers, maltsters and foreign customers, he added.
“We’d rather have this finished with by July 31, not Oct. 31.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian Wheat Board has asked the Federal Court to rule on whether the Canadian government has the right to kill the barley monopoly through regulatory changes rather than passing legislation.
Board chair Ken Ritter says a ruling one way or the other will clear up the uncertainty around the prairie barley market.
“By proceeding with a back door approach to changing barley marketing, the federal government has created uncertainty that is costing farmers money,” Ritter said in a news conference call.
“Establishing legal certainty is the right thing to do.”
The board is asking the federal government to join in its request, a partnership that it says would speed up the request and straighten out the situation quickly.
The board is not joining the FCWB and its supporters in that legal challenge.
As to the FCWB case, Bruun has asked federal attorney general Robert Nicholson and wheat board minister Chuck Strahl to join FCWB in asking the court to speed the process and hear arguments within the next month.
He said the courts typically expedite a hearing if there is a legitimate issue of urgency and if both sides agree.
“I think we can make a pretty good argument that this is urgent,” said Bruun, given the Aug. 1 implementation date and the potential problems from a delay.
Strahl wouldn’t comment on whether the government would agree to an expedited hearing because neither he nor government lawyers had seen the FCWB application.
If the government doesn’t agree to an earlier hearing date and FCWB is alone in its request, it’s unlikely the court would grant a hearing before Aug. 1.
FCWB was to file its application to the court last week. The government has 10 days to respond.
The Saskatchewan government has promised $30,000 to help the FCWB pay legal costs. The Manitoba government has pledged $20,000.
The FCWB’s eight-page application to the Federal Court lists 12 farmers as applicants: Harold Bell and Art Hadlund from British Columbia; Art Macklin, Lynn Jacobson and Ken Eshpeter from Alberta; Terry Boehm, Lyle Simonson, Stewart Wells and Bill Woods from Saskatchewan and Wilf Harder, Ken Sigurdson and Keith Ryan from Manitoba.
The application states that replacing the single desk for barley with an open market will reduce aggregate prairie farm income by $60 million.
The application asks for a declaration from the court that the order-in-council ending the single desk is unlawful and outside the federal government’s jurisdiction, and for an order to quash the order-in-council.
