Despite a recent setback in the courts, Saskatchewan farmer Gordon Wallace says he intends to pursue his class action lawsuit to recover money from the two national railways.
A Court of Queen’s Bench judge in Saskatoon recently ruled that Wallace’s law firm, McKercher LLP, could not act against Canadian National Railway because it has previously done unrelated legal work for the railway.
The judge said that put the law firm into a conflict of interest and gave it potential access to confidential information about CN.
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McKercher has appealed to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Wallace said he was surprised by the judge’s decision, adding he’s frustrated by how long the case is taking to work its way through the courts.
The original statement of claim was filed in December.
“I thought we’d be a little further ahead by now, and this will drag it out that much longer,” the Unity, Sask., farmer said. “But I’m determined to carry this through.”
The class action suit alleges the railways have overcharged for hauling grain for at least two decades and should compensate all farmers who shipped grain during that period.
The suit could potentially produce a repayment to farmers in excess of $1 billion.
The allegations in the statement of claim have not been proved in court. None of the defendants have filed statements of defence and all have declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
Wallace said he’s optimistic McKercher will win on appeal and if so, the lawsuit will carry on.
If McKercher loses, he’ll have to decide whether to continue the suit with McKercher against the three other defendants – Canadian Pacific Railway, the federal government and the Canadian Transportation Agency – or find another law firm to take over the case.
“That’s definitely an option,” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it but we’re making preparations, I guess.”
He added it might be difficult to find a major law firm in the province that hasn’t done legal work for one of the two national railways over the years.
Another class action suit against the railways on the same issue was filed in Regina by Merchant Law Group in mid October. Five prairie farmers are listed as plaintiffs.
“That tells me somebody else thinks this is a winnable case,” Wallace said.”
He added he’s not sure how the courts will deal with two proposed class action suits on the same issue moving through the system at the same time.
