The wheels of justice won’t be speeded up for Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board.
FCWB had been hoping for an expedited hearing on its lawsuit alleging the federal government illegally changed the rules governing the voters list for the CWB director elections.
The farm group had asked that the case be heard before nominations closed Oct. 20 and voting got underway.
But Federal Court judge James O’Reilly last week turned down the group’s request for a quick hearing.
The judge did not issue written reasons, but FCWB lawyer Anders Bruun said that in issuing his decision, the judge indicated that even if he agreed to expedite the case, it probably wouldn’t be concluded before voting ends Nov. 28.
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The judge also rejected FCWB’s request for an interim order staying changes to the voters list implemented by the federal government in late July.
Those changes made it easier for producers without a CWB permit book to obtain a ballot and removed some producers with valid permit books from the voters list, requiring them to apply for a ballot.
In its application to the court, FCWB says rules governing voter eligibility are set out in the CWB Act and the government cannot change them through a unilateral direction to the board.
In rejecting the request for an interim order, O’Reilly said the method used by the government to adjust the voters list was the same as it used in 2006, which did not lead to litigation. He also said there was no evidence of “irreparable harm” after the 2006 rule change.
Bruun said it’s now unclear when the court will hear the case, adding FCWB has to decide what course it should follow.
“We have to resolve whether to go ahead with what we have now and then file supplementary material after the election is over, or wait until the election is over and done with before taking the next step.”
Bruun added it’s possible the case won’t be heard by the court until after the New Year.
FCWB spokesperson Stewart Wells said he was disappointed with the judge’s decision.
He said it raises the prospect that if FCWB receives a favourable ruling after the election is over, it may ask to have the election results overturned.
“That’s one of the worst possible outcomes,” he said. “We wanted to avoid that.”
In his July 23 letter to the CWB, CWB minister Gerry Ritz said the changes were required for “the proper conducting and supervision” of the 2008 elections.
He said the directive was issued under Section 3.07 of the CWB Act, which gives the minister the right to issue directions to the board, subject to the CWB election regulations.
