It will be several weeks before four Saskatchewan farmers who appealed their convictions for illegally exporting grain to the United States learn if they were successful.
A Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench judge has reserved his decision until the appeals of about a dozen others are heard beginning Feb. 24.
Norm Colhoun, Orlin Hector, Blake Kotylak and Mark Melle are among about 20 producers who took grain into the U.S. in 1996. They appeared in a Regina court Jan. 20 to present their arguments.
All the cases have been dogged by delays and adjournments, and many of the farmers have complained that the process has taken too long.
Other appeals are set for Jan. 30-31 in Estevan, Sask.
Chief justice Frank Gerein told the farmers last fall he wouldn’t rule immediately.
“I think it’s too important a matter to give a decision from the bench,” he said at the time.
The farmers were all found guilty under federal customs laws for taking grain across the border without the proper licences.
