Organic growers are taking their case against the developers of genetically modified canola to Canada’s highest court.
Two Saskatchewan growers attempting to mount a class action suit against Monsanto Canada and Bayer CropScience are asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear an appeal of a Saskatchewan Court of Appeal decision.
On May 2, the appeals court upheld a 2005 decision by the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench that denied the farmers certification under Saskatchewan’s Class Actions Act.
“Sometimes when you’re wanting to be heard, or want to get action with people, you don’t get anywhere until you go to the boss or the owner,” said Dale Beaudoin, one of the applicants seeking compensation for the alleged destruction of organic canola markets by GM contamination.
Read Also
Land crash warning rejected
A technical analyst believes that Saskatchewan land values could be due for a correction, but land owners and FCC say supply/demand fundamentals drive land prices – not mathematical models
“By putting forth our application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, we are now going to the top.”
Larry Hoffmann, the other applicant, said Saskatchewan’s new class actions legislation must be challenged.
“The bar was set too high for class actions in Saskatchewan. We have to appeal to the Supreme Court because the lower court decisions, as they stand, make it futile for the common person to make a claim.”
Trish Jordan, spokesperson for Monsanto Canada, said the organic growers trotted out the same bar-is-too-high argument after the initial ruling, but that was rejected by the court of appeal.
“Maybe they figure if they go outside the provincial jurisdiction they will get a different answer, but I don’t believe that to be the case,” she said.
According to the Supreme Court’s website, it agrees to hear about 70 cases out of 600 applications filed annually.
If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the appeal and overrules the previous court decisions, the case will be certified as class action, and allow the farmers to go to trial to seek compensation for the alleged loss of organic markets.
Terry Zakreski, the applicants’ lawyer, was also the lawyer for Bruno, Sask., farmer Percy Schmeiser, whose lengthy legal battle with Monsanto Canada established that biotech companies have legal control over their patented genes.
The organic case is attempting to determine what responsibilities accompany those proprietary rights.
If the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case, or grants an appeal and then upholds lower court rulings, the farmers would have no further legal recourse under class action legislation.
