A lawsuit alleging the federal government illegally changed the rules governing the voters list in the 2008 Canadian Wheat Board elections will probably carry on.
Stewart Wells of Friends of the CWB, which is initiating the suit, said that even though the group’s favoured candidates won four of the five director seats up for grabs, it’s important to set a precedent for future elections.
“If we don’t challenge this in court, it gives future governments free rein to go ahead with this kind of thing,” he said.
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The focus of the lawsuit is a July 23 letter sent by CWB minister Gerry Ritz to the wheat board directing that certain changes be made to the voting list for the director elections.
The changes had the effect of removing thousands of voters from the list.
The minister said in the letter that Section 3.07 of the CWB Act gave him the authority to issue directions to the board, subject to CWB election regulations.
The FCWB responded by filing suit in Federal Court, arguing that rules governing voter eligibility are clearly set out in the CWB Act and the government cannot change them through a unilateral order to the board.
Wells said one of the arguments presented by the government in the initial stages of the hearing was that since similar changes were implemented in 2006 and no one challenged those changes, they must be OK.
Given that, it’s important that the lawsuit be pursued and a definitive ruling be issued by the court, he said.
At one point in the proceeding, FCWB suggested that if it won the lawsuit, it might ask the court to overturn the election results and hold a new vote.
Wells said that’s no longer a factor.
“I think we would just be looking for a ruling that what the government did was wrong, and then look ahead to rule changes for the next election in an appropriate manner,” he said.
No date has been set for the case to resume.
