Attempts to bring a $20 billion class action lawsuit against the federal government and a feed company will continue, following a Jan. 5 decision of an Ontario Superior Court justice.
The proposed class action is driven by allegations that the BSE crisis and damages suffered by producers were the result of negligence on the part of the Canadian government and by feed manufacturer Ridley Inc.
Justice Warren Winkler last week denied a motion to dismiss the proposed lawsuit against Ridley Inc. and the federal government. However, he granted a motion to dismiss the claim against parent company Ridley Corp. Ltd. of Australia.
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Cameron Pallett, one of four lawyers pressing to move the lawsuit forward, said the emphasis now will be on holding accountable the Canadian government and Ridley Inc.
“The cattle producers have suffered so much here that the only defendant in this action that can really compensate them for the damage done is the federal government.
“Ridley can help. They did the damage and in my respectful view they ought to get tagged for this, but point of fact, they haven’t got the kind of money the feds have.”
Ridley Inc., headquartered in Winnipeg and in Mankota, Minnesota, is one of North America’s leading livestock feed manufacturers.
The company issued a News release
news Jan. 5 saying it will consider all possible options for an appeal.
“We are disappointed with today’s ruling on our preliminary motion,” said Ridley Inc. chief executive officer Steve VanRoekel, “but we remain confident in our defence of the case on the merits.
“We will continue to vigorously defend the lawsuits at each and every stage of the litigation as it progresses.”
Pallett and his three lawyer colleagues hope to collect damages for producers who suffered as a result of BSE and the ban on exports of Canadian beef and live cattle.
“The last thing that the farms of Saskatchewan and Alberta and parts of Manitoba needed following one of the worst droughts in Canadian history was to be hit by the BSE crisis. That polished off literally thousands of them,” Pallett said.
The claim alleges the Canadian government did not ban ruminant meat and bone meal from cattle feed soon enough. It also alleges that Ridley Inc. became aware in 1996 that feeding ruminant meat and bone meal was potentially hazardous to the health of cattle, but continued to incorporate the material into feed marketed in Canada until it was prohibited in 1997.
