The players are lining up for a second round in the Canadian Wheat Board barley marketing fight.
The Alberta government announced it is seeking intervener status in the upcoming federal court appeal and will side with the federal government, which launched the appeal in August.
The Western Barley Growers Association also will seek intervener status in supporting the federal government’s fight to remove barley from the Canadian Wheat Board.
On the other side, Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board has said it will apply for intervener status along with the governments of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, who want barley marketing to stay with the board.
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Darcy Willis, head of domestic policy with Alberta Agriculture, said the province’s decision is a natural follow to the original court case where it had intervener status.
“It supports Alberta’s ongoing pursuit and policy direction of marketing choice,” said Willis.
On July 31, Federal Court justice Delores Hansen rejected the federal government’s bid to remove barley from the board’s jurisdiction by issuing a regulatory order, ruling such a change can be done only through Parliament.
Willis said Alberta is hoping to bring additional strength to the federal government’s goal to remove barley from the board.
“The more people you have, the more you can shore up the legal argument and the courts can see some consensus among the players.”
The Alberta government also announced it will help the Western Barley Growers Association with the costs of applying for intervener status and will pay up to $50,000 to the lobby group for its expenses.
The money has given the barley growers a much-needed boost in its marketing fight, said the group’s president Jeff Nielsen.
“It’s phenomenal. Alberta’s been very strong in supporting choice for its producers,” said Nielsen.
“There’s no way we could afford something like this on our own.”
The barley growers did not seek intervener status during the original court case, but wanted to ensure it could counter statements made by Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board from the original case, he said.
Nielsen said money from the Alberta government offsets financial help the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments gave Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board in the original court case.
“It levels the playing field. It shows Alberta is supporting its producers.”
Nielsen said 10 barley farmers have signed affidavits stating they have lost money due to the continuation of the board.
Laurence Nicholson with Friends of the CWB said the group would have accepted an open market for barley and not jumped into the appeal if the government hadn’t muddied the waters with a three pronged barley plebiscite question.
“If the government wants to move on this, they need to have a clear, concise plebiscite with a clear, concise question. The question should be ‘do you support central desk selling or do you support open market,’ ” said Nicholson.
The appeal is expected to take place in late January or February.
