Farmers Win Right to Class Action
(March 23, 2005, FFJ) Over the weekend
Judge Hargrave agreed to allow the class action suit filed by lawyer Tony
Merchant on June 17, 2003 to proceed.
The suit was filed on behalf of western farmers, alleging that Canadian
Wheat Board export licensing costs are being taken from the CWB Pool
Accounts instead of being paid by the federal government as directed by
the CWB Act.
This is not the first time western farmers have found themselves on
opposing sides of the court room with the CWB. In October 2002, 13 Alberta
farmers were placed in jail after challenging the export licensing
authority of the CWB. (One of those farmers had donated a single bag of
grain to a 4H club in Montana). Saskatchewan farmers who challenged the
same rules are still awaiting a decision.
“We must deal with the concerns of the farmers,” said Colleen Bianchi
of Farmers for Justice. “The issues of the CWB with the World Trade
Organization, US subsidies which cost our farmers more dollars, these are
all real issues that our farmers face daily.”
The CWB has held accountability meetings across western Canada, Bianchi
says, because they see that the image of the CWB is suffering. Bianchi
says the meetings are a farce, and are nothing put a “poor attempt at
saving face.”
“These big accountability meetings have a lot of expensive CWB people
traveling to meet with 12 farmers at one meeting, 25 farmers at another.
And who pays for those expenses? There’s a lot of funds leaving the
farmer pool accounts, and the grain prices are just not there. We can’t
continue to support CWB field trips.”
Bianchi contends that farmers want answers about export license funding.
“We must understand our situation with the WTO, and the CWB needs to
provide those answers. Things are tough on the prairies, but insulated in
a boardroom the CWB doesn’t seem to realize this. That’s my money they
are spending, and I think I have a right to know how.” |
