Canada: Federal court rules Agriculture Minister acted illegally in denying farmers a vote on the CWB

It seemed for a long while the only sure thing about the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) was that it would be disbanded in August 2012. Now even that is up in the air, The Sherwood Park News reported on December, 9.

Allan Oberg, chairperson of the CWB farmer-controlled board of directors, is calling on the federal government to respect the federal court ruling on December, 7 that federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz acted illegally in denying Prairie farmers a vote on the CWB.

"We call on Minister Ritz to comply with the spirit of this ruling and immediately cease actions that would strip away prairie farmers' single-desk marketing system without first allowing a vote by affected producers," Oberg said.

"The legislation, if passed, would enable the government to dismantle the CWB single desk for Western Canadian wheat and barley, without first having held a producer plebiscite as required under Section 47.1 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act."

The ruling issued by Justice Douglas Campbell of the Federal Court of Canada agreed with the CWB that the minister broke the law by failing to consult with the CWB board of directors.

He stated Ritz was legally obligated to hold a vote among producers before taking steps to dismantle the single desk, noted as Bill C-18.

"The change process is threatening and should be approached with caution," Campbell wrote in his decision. "Generally speaking, when advancing a significant change to an established management scheme, the failure to provide a meaningful opportunity for dissenting voices to be heard and accommodated forces resort to legal means to have them heard.... Had a meaningful consultative process been engaged to find a solution which meets the concerns of the majority, the present legal action might not have been necessary."

Oberg said the CWB has argued strongly that farmers should have the final say over changes to their grain market agency.

"As farmers, we pay for the CWB, we run it and we should decide what happens to it," he said. "We are pleased the court has agreed that the minister acted in violation of laws created in 1998 to empower farmers and give them a direct say in any changes contemplated to the CWB's marketing mandate. In light of this ruling, the government should stop steam-rolling over farmers' democratic rights.

"The minister now needs to do the right thing, obey the law and hold a vote — as he should have done from the beginning."

On December, 8, Oberg and farmer-elected CWB director Stewart Wells was scheduled to appear before the Senate standing committee on Agriculture and Forestry, asking senators to halt passage of Bill C-18.

The directors emphasized what they believe to be the importance of this issue to the farmers of Western Canada.

According to the CWB, Parliament's decision on this Bill will affect Prairie farmers and farm families for generations to come, without farmers having been consulted or asked if they want it, and instead excluding them.

09 December, 2011