More woes for "The Harper Government!"
Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board -a coalition of farmers and other Canadians in support of democracy and a farmer-controlled CWB
Farmers' Rights Successfully Defended by Friends of CWB
Winnipeg, MB, March 24, 2011 - The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB) today announced that it had successfully defended the rights of farmers to challenge the Harper government in court regarding changes to voting rules in Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) Director elections.
On March 16, 2011, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the Harper government and stipulated that farmers do indeed have "standing" to defend their voting rights in the Canadian courts.
"Harper and his cronies had argued all along that farmers should not be allowed to defend their voting rights in court,” said Anders Bruun, Counsel for the Appellants. "Not very long ago this same Harper said that the Canadian court system would stop him from going too far if he had a majority, but now we see that he has other tricks up his sleeve and will try to stop regular Canadians from using the courts when it suits his purpose."
The issue stems from Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture & Agri-food, over-riding the CWB voting rules by a simple, and secret, letter of instruction to the Wheat Board. In three consecutive CWB elections, the Harper government stripped thousands of producers of their automatic voting rights as Wheat Board permit holders.
The Federal Court of Appeal also agreed with the FCWB that stripping producers of their automatic voting rights resulted in fewer votes being cast when it said, "...There is no doubt that the directive changed the dynamic of the election," and went on to say "Skillfully and with great clarity, counsel for the appellants exposed the effects of the Minister's directive on some of the producers' rights regarding the election of board members."
"Unfortunately, the Federal Court did not go all the way and rule that the Minister's order exceeded his authority," said Larry Bohdanovich, a grains and oilseeds producer at Grandview, Manitoba. “But that just shows us two things: One, that Harper will twist and abuse any law or regulation to ‘walk all over’ those with different views. And two, that when a truly responsible government assumes office in Ottawa, both the CWB Act and the Regulations need to be tightened to further protect farmers' rights to fair elections.
The FCWB will not be seeking leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. "We have won the right for farmers to use Canadian courts to defend their voting rights, and the Federal Court of Appeal has agreed that the ministerial directives effectively stopped thousands of farmers from voting. Apart from changing the CWB Act and Regulations that is all we can do on this issue," concluded Anders Bruun. “But,” he added, “FCWB stand ready to take whatever action may be necessary to protect the integrity of a farmer-controlled CWB whenever and however the need may arise.”
Contact
Anders Bruun, Telephone: (204) 416-3562 or bruun_a@hotmail.com
Larry Bohdanovich, Telephone: (204) 546-3154/638-1893
On March 16, 2011, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the Harper government and stipulated that farmers do indeed have "standing" to defend their voting rights in the Canadian courts.
"Harper and his cronies had argued all along that farmers should not be allowed to defend their voting rights in court,” said Anders Bruun, Counsel for the Appellants. "Not very long ago this same Harper said that the Canadian court system would stop him from going too far if he had a majority, but now we see that he has other tricks up his sleeve and will try to stop regular Canadians from using the courts when it suits his purpose."
The issue stems from Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture & Agri-food, over-riding the CWB voting rules by a simple, and secret, letter of instruction to the Wheat Board. In three consecutive CWB elections, the Harper government stripped thousands of producers of their automatic voting rights as Wheat Board permit holders.
The Federal Court of Appeal also agreed with the FCWB that stripping producers of their automatic voting rights resulted in fewer votes being cast when it said, "...There is no doubt that the directive changed the dynamic of the election," and went on to say "Skillfully and with great clarity, counsel for the appellants exposed the effects of the Minister's directive on some of the producers' rights regarding the election of board members."
"Unfortunately, the Federal Court did not go all the way and rule that the Minister's order exceeded his authority," said Larry Bohdanovich, a grains and oilseeds producer at Grandview, Manitoba. “But that just shows us two things: One, that Harper will twist and abuse any law or regulation to ‘walk all over’ those with different views. And two, that when a truly responsible government assumes office in Ottawa, both the CWB Act and the Regulations need to be tightened to further protect farmers' rights to fair elections.
The FCWB will not be seeking leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. "We have won the right for farmers to use Canadian courts to defend their voting rights, and the Federal Court of Appeal has agreed that the ministerial directives effectively stopped thousands of farmers from voting. Apart from changing the CWB Act and Regulations that is all we can do on this issue," concluded Anders Bruun. “But,” he added, “FCWB stand ready to take whatever action may be necessary to protect the integrity of a farmer-controlled CWB whenever and however the need may arise.”
Contact
Anders Bruun, Telephone: (204) 416-3562 or bruun_a@hotmail.com
Larry Bohdanovich, Telephone: (204) 546-3154/638-1893
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 6:04 PM
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