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Government Broke Law By Denying Farmer Vote on Canadian Wheat Board

Government Broke Law By Denying Farmer Vote on Canadian Wheat Board

07 December 2011

CANADA - The chair of the CWB's farmer-controlled board of directors is calling on the federal government to respect today's federal court ruling that the Minister for the CWB 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," Allen Oberg said from Ottawa, where he is preparing to address a Senate committee tomorrow, asking senators to halt passage of Bill C-18.

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 today 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 and hold a vote among producers before taking steps to dismantle the single desk.

"The change process is threatening and should be approached with caution," the judge 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."

The ruling has been posted on the CWB's Web site at www.cwb.ca , under "Hot Topics" and "Legal Challenges".

"We argued strongly that farmers should have the final say over changes to their grain marketing agency," Oberg said. "As farmers, we pay for the CWB, we run it and we should decide what happens to it. 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 steamrolling 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."

Oberg and CWB farmer-elected director Stewart Wells appear tomorrow morning before a Senate committee considering passage of Bill C-18. Oberg said the court ruling brings additional impetus for senators to reject the Bill.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Gerry Ritz, agriculture minister, said the government was determined to press ahead with its plan to repeal the existing Wheat Board Act by the end of the year and that the wishes of parliament would override Wednesday's court judgment.

"At the end of the day, every farmer will have the right to choose how they market their grain," Mr Ritz said. The government will also appeal the judgment.

The government contends that the end of the board's monopoly will attract investment, encourage innovation and create jobs. It has taken the view that farmers gave it a mandate to abolish the single-desk system by overwhelmingly supporting the Conservatives in a general election last May.

The board maintains that its negotiating clout provides farmers with prices and freight rates that private traders cannot match, especially in tough times. It also provides Canada's biggest non-government weather service and offers low borrowing rates to farmers thanks to government guarantees.

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