A two-year-old dispute over who was eligible to vote in the Canadian Wheat Board 2008 director elections will be settled in a Winnipeg court beginning Jan. 20.
The federal court of Canada will hear a case involving the federal government and pro-wheat board group, Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board.
The group launched a lawsuit against the federal government in September 2008 claiming federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz illegally ordered changes to voter eligibility rules.
Ritz ordered the changes in the summer of 2008, about three months before CWB director elections.
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FCWB members claim the rule changes contravened the Canadian Wheat Board Act and represented a deliberate attempt by the federal government to influence the outcome of the elections.
Ritz, meanwhile, claimed the changes were not only legal but required to ensure “the proper conducting and supervision” of the 2008 director elections.
In a July 23 letter addressed to the CWB, Ritz said the changes were made under a section of the CWB Act that gives the minister the right to issue directions to CWB directors.
Federal government lawyers are expected to argue that the act gives Ottawa the right to change voter eligibility rules as long as proper consultation takes place between the government and the CWB.
Wheat board officials have confirmed that Ritz informed them of the proposed changes by letter and in a teleconference call in mid-July 2008.
But according to FCWB, wheat board directors do not view Ritz’s efforts as a meaningful consultation.
The FCWB argues that Ritz did not consult with the board “adequately or at all” before the changes were implemented so the changes were made illegally, in violation of the CWB Act.
FCWB member Stewart Wells said last week that the case will not only determine whether the changes were legal but also whether a federal minister has the power to unilaterally change voter eligibility rules.
“The issue for us is can the minister, under any circumstance, change the (voter eligibility) regulations just through a letter of instruction,” said Wells.
When the changes were implemented, FCWB claimed they would deny voting privileges to thousands of legitimate CWB permit book holders.
However, Wells said the group was not sure how many eligible voters were denied a ballot.
“We don’t have any numbers of the number of people who were stripped of their voting privileges but it created an enormous amount of confusion.”
The changes implemented under the 2008 directive included:
* Allowing producers without a CWB permit book to obtain a ballot by presenting evidence, such as crop insurance documents or grain receipts, proving that they grew eligible grain crops in the current or previous crop year.
- Removing from the voters list producers who had a permit book but had not delivered eligible grains to the CWB in the current or previous crop year.
Under the altered voter eligibility rules, producers who were removed from the voters list had an opportunity to re-acquire a ballot by signing a statutory declaration or by presenting evidence that they grew eligible grains in the last two years.
Wells added that the application forms allowing producers to re-acquire a ballot were flawed.
The pro-CWB group had hoped the court case would be heard before voting began in the 2008 director elections.
Instead, it has taken more than 16 months to land in court.
