The Canadian Wheat Board may be gone, but it hasn’t been forgotten.
Prairie farmers opposed to the way the CWB was dismantled made an appearance in the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench May 28.
The farmers, supported by an organization known as Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB), hope to launch a class action lawsuit against the federal government for its handling of the CWB file.
In a May 29 news release, FCWB chair Stewart Wells described the recent court hearing in Manitoba as “a series of technical appeals by Ottawa to delay justice and frustrate prairie farmers’ efforts to hold them to account for their stewardship of farmers’ money held by the CWB.”
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“The Harper government did not treat farmers fairly when it dismantled the CWB in 2012,” Wells said.
“We contend their irresponsible actions resulted in over $150 million being withheld from farmers in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 crop years.
“The problem has now been compounded by the Liberal government’s failure to act responsibly and so the issue is still working its way through the court.”
Andrew Dennis, a farmer from Brookdale, Man., is the plaintiff in a yet-to-be-certified class action lawsuit.
“We hope a favourable ruling (in Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench) will clear the way to the next step, which is a hearing to have the action certified as a class action with myself as representative plaintiff,” Dennis said.
Contact brian.cross@producer.com
