SASKATOON – A court decision handed down last week does not bring into question the Canadian Wheat Board’s authority over the the grain marketing system, says a justice department lawyer.
In a Winnipeg courtroom last week, a protonotary (a court official similar to a judge) threw out an application for a judicial review of the CWB brought by Portage la Prairie farmer Jim Pallister
During the hearing, justice department lawyer Chris Mainella argued the Federal Court has no jurisdiction to make any ruling over what the board does. Part of the argument centred around a contention that the CWB is not a federal board or commission for the purposes of the Federal Court Act.
Read Also
Going beyond “Resistant” on crop seed labels
Variety resistance is getting more specific on crop disease pathogens, but that information must be conveyed in a way that actually helps producers make rotation decisions.
That prompted some farm groups to claim the court had in effect ruled the CWB is not a federal board and therefore its regulatory powers are questionable.
Pallister, representing a group called Farmers for Justice, said he was “very, very pleased” with the outcome.
As well, Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association president Larry Maguire said he was encouraged that the ruling “seems to suggest” that the regulatory powers of the CWB are “questionable” because it is a corporation and not a federal board.
He said it brings into question certain actions the board has taken in the past.
But in a later interview, Mainella described that interpretation as “totally inaccurate.
“They’ve taken it out of context. We were saying it was not a board only for the purposes of the Federal Court Act.”
He drew the following analogy: Someone gets a speeding ticket in Halifax, is summoned to court in Vancouver and successfully argues that the court has no jurisdiction to decide on the speeding ticket.
“It doesn’t mean the ticket is invalid,” said Mainella. “It just means the court in Vancouver can’t decide on it and that’s the same argument we raised.”
The CWB issued a statement reminding farmers that anyone exporting wheat or barley to the U.S. must continue to comply with the Customs Act and the CWB Act.
