The Manitoba Court of Appeal unanimously gives green light to Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board to Pursue Claim against the Government of Canada

The Manitoba Court of Appeal, in a ruling issued Dec. 2, 2020, decided unanimously that a legal action against the Government of Canada for “malfeasance in public office” in relation to the privatization of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) is valid and proper. Stewart Wells, Chair of the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB), stated, “This legal action can now proceed. The alleged offenses occurred during the Harper administration when Gerry Ritz was the Minister of Agriculture and their government was destroying the CWB.”

“Thanks to the decision of the Manitoba Court of Appeal, we can continue our legal process which calls for the repatriation of $150 million to farmers that were marketing wheat and barley through the CWB in 2010/11 and 2011/12. The legal action also calls for $10 million in punitive damages, and with interest accruing since 2012 the total number would be in the $190 million range” Wells added.

In their December 2, 2020 ruling, the three judges of the Manitoba Court of Appeal are unanimous that the Government of Canada must try to deliver a defence to the claim, and that the government will not simply be let off the hook for its actions.

The ruling is crystal clear in asserting that “The claim discloses a cause of action, and it cannot be said in the context of the law and the litigation process that the claim has no reasonable chance of succeeding.”

For the last 8 years, Class Plaintiff Andrew Dennis of Brookdale, Mb., supported by the FCWB, has argued in Court that the Harper government did not have the right to transfer approximately $150 million in cash assets away from farmers and instead direct that money towards the payment of restructuring costs and the government of Saudi

Arabia and the grain company Bunge.

The FCWB believes this seizure amounted to a

“sweetener” added to the gift of CWB assets that was made to G3 Limited which is owned by the government of Saudi

Arabia and the grain company Bunge. Bunge has since sold its shares to the government Saudi

Arabia which now owns most of G3.

“Mr. Dennis will now be petitioning the Manitoba

Court of Queen’s Bench for certification as a Class

Action and we will be continuing our fight for justice for prairie grain farmers,” concluded