More than two-thirds of the Conservative party parliamentary caucus is asking a Montana judge to allow their lawyer to be part of a crucial July hearing on whether the border should be reopened to young cattle imports from Canada.
The application for intervenor status was filed last week. U.S. judge Richard Cebull is expected to hear evidence July 27 on whether to reopen the border or make the border ban even more restrictive. Seventy MPs have signed the application, including leader Stephen Harper.
Cebull earlier rejected a Canadian government request that it be allowed to file a brief as a friend of the court. There is no indication when he will rule on the Conservative request to have a lawyer as part of the court
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Trade critic Belinda Stronach said in an interview May 13 the Conservatives have applied for intervenor status so the party can have a lawyer in the court to challenge R-CALF contentions about the safety of Canadian beef, the effectiveness of Canada’s BSE testing system and the likelihood that an open border would lead to the import of BSE into the United States.
“We are doing this because the government has not and they should have,” said the Ontario MP.
“They filed for amicus status and were rejected but that is not the same thing. Our system is under attack. Someone should be in that courtroom to defend Canada’s system and producers.”
Stronach said Canada’s testing and food safety system is on trial in Cebull’s court and Canada should not be relying on U.S. Department of Agriculture lawyers to make Canada’s case.
“We think the government should have been more aggressive in trying to get standing in the court because they would have a better chance,” said Stronach. “They didn’t, so we are.”
R-CALF is asking that the border closing be made permanent and that the import of boxed cuts from younger animals also be ended.
