Decision reserved on wheat board challenge

WINNIPEG — A Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench judge reserved his decision Wednesday on whether to grant an injunction that would halt implementation of Ottawa's new grain marketing law.

Eight former Canadian Wheat Board directors brought the application before Justice Shane Perlmutter, who presided over a two-day hearing.

They're seeking the injunction until the validity of the Harper government's Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act is tested in the courts. The act, proclaimed in December, would end the CWB's monopoly on Prairie wheat and barley sales.

The eight former directors — all farmers — sought the injunction after a Federal Court judge ruled last month that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz broke the law by introducing Bill C-18 in October without consulting the board or holding a plebiscite of Prairie grain growers. The federal Conservatives proceeded to pass the new law, despite the ruling.

On Wednesday, federal lawyer Robert MacKinnon argued that Federal Court Justice Douglas Campbell's ruling did not invalidate the new law. He said the ruling was simply a declaration about the minister's actions.

MacKinnon noted that the former directors' own lawyer had made it clear in Federal Court that they were not challenging the right of Parliament to pass Bill C-18.

"There's nothing in the declaration to even suggest that the bill should be withdrawn or that it is invalid," MacKinnon argued. "You cannot make a brick out of a single grain of sand here."

On Tuesday, the lawyer representing the eight former directors — who were removed from office when the new grain marketing act came into force — said Ottawa's failure to give Prairie farmers a vote, as required under the old legislation governing the CWB, was "an affront to society as a whole."

Colin MacArthur also argued that ending the grain seller's single desk would cause "irreparable harm" to western growers.

But MacKinnon disputed that on Wednesday. He said it is not an established fact, as argued by CWB proponents, that the board's single-desk marketing function provides farmers with better returns than they would receive by selling their grain on the open market.

He also argued that the uncertainty created by the former directors' legal actions could negatively affect Prairie farmers. International grain buyers may question whether Canada will be able to meet its commitments as a supplier, he added.

Original Article
Source: Ottawa Citizen