Motion to deny claim | Farmers say assets owned by the CWB were improperly confiscated by the federal government
The wheels of justice will advance a little further this month in an ongoing dispute involving assets controlled by the former Canadian Wheat Board.
On Oct. 23, the Federal Court in Ottawa will consider a motion to dismiss a class action suit launched last year against the federal government and the wheat board.
The Dennis class action, launched in February 2012 on behalf of western Canadian wheat farmers Edward Dennis, Harold Bell, Nathan Macklin and Ian McCreary, seeks damages of $17 billion, allegedly caused by the elimination of the CWB’s single desk and the loss of farmer equity in CWB assets, including a $145 million contingency fund.
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The defendants in the suit, represented by federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and the CWB, filed a motion last August requesting that the claim be denied and the class action dismissed.
The Federal Court is scheduled to hear arguments on both sides Oct. 23. There are no definitive timelines on when the court will render a decision.
Anders Bruun, a Winnipeg lawyer representing plaintiffs in the case, estimated that more than 1,000 farmers have signed onto the class action suit.
Bruun said the action can’t be certified until Ottawa’s motion to dismiss has been considered by the court.
Even if the court rules against Ottawa’s motion to dismiss, another 12 to 18 months could pass before the class action is certified, depending on court schedules and the caseloads of lawyers involved.
Bill Gehl, a Saskatchewan farmer and chair of the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, said farmer participation in the lawsuit will likely grow now that they realize farmer equity in CWB seems to have disappeared.
“Even farmers who haven’t traditionally been (single-desk) supporters are certainly interested in the assets of the CWB and how they were confiscated … by the federal government,” Gehl said.
There is a common belief among single desk supporters and open market advocates that farmers’ grain and the revenue it generated allowed the Canadian Wheat Board to acquire assets over the past 75 or 80 years, he said.
“That’s what we’re saying but I guess in the end, the courts are going to decide that,” Gehl said.
“Certainly we seem to have a federal government that doesn’t … have any issue with taking those assets. We’re hoping that the courts see things differently.”
