WINNIPEG – About 20 grain farmers from across Western Canada made a pilgrimage Feb. 9 to a downtown Winnipeg courtroom for a trial that could challenge the Canadian Wheat Board’s right to sell their grain.
The much-anticipated case involves a constitutional challenge of the CWB Act launched by Saskatchewan farmer Dave Bryan, who trucked grain to the U.S. without a CWB export permit in 1996 and 1997.
Bryan says his case will affect more than just farmers.
“If a judge says ‘no, farmers don’t have ownership rights to their grain’, basically a lot more people than grain farmers in this country are screwed,” he said outside the courtroom.
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As the trail got under way, Bryan’s lawyer, Art Stacey, asked Court of Queen’s Bench judge James Smith to throw out Bryan’s charges under the Canada Customs Act.
Stacey said if the CWB Act is found to be unconstitutional by violating farmers’ property rights, which is a provincial responsibility, then the Customs Act charges would no longer be valid.
The first day of testimony focused on technical and academic arguments rather than the issue of cross-border grain shipments.
Crown prosecutor Clyde Bond said Stacey’s list of witnesses, which includes producers, an agronomist and a historian, won’t be relevant to the case.
He said the case is a straightforward case of violating customs regulations and told court the Canadian Wheat Board is not on trial.
When Bond said farmers’ testimony about how the board affects their bottom line is irrelevant, Bryan’s supporters in the courtroom could be heard muttering their disagreement.
Bryan welcomed the judge’s decision to hear the first few witnesses on the list, calling it a victory for farmers. The trial is slated to run for two weeks.
