The day The Government of Canada almost became "The Harper Government!"

Good Day Readers:

A special thank you to the individual who anonymously sent an electronic copy of Federal Court of Canada Judge Douglas R. Campbell's ruling in the Canadian Wheat Board case.

Since the document is 30-pages from start to finish we are not reproducing it, however, here's what Mr. Anders Bruun who represented Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (presented twice yesterday) said in an e-mail just received.
Clare,

Greetings. You may be receiving this attachment from others but it's tremendously great news so its better to get it two or three times than to miss out altogether. The result of our intense legal battle with the Federal Government is that we, being Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board, the Canadian Wheat Board and the 5 parties who joined us as intervenors, won outright on a clean straight forward argument that should be robust enough to hold up on appeal. You will find the most telling quote on page 3. There will undoubtedly be a great political uproar over this for a few days and we have to start thinking about the next steps. Right now we are in territory for which there are no precedents.

Note he raises the interesting point what if the decision is indeed robust enough to hold up under appeal then what will The Harper Government do? Today it announced it will continue to push through Bill C-18 currently in the Senate while it files an appeal.

The page 3 at paragraph [3] telling quote in the Campbell ruling is as follows:

[3] A most recent reminder of the rule of law as a fudamental constitutional imperative is expressed by Chief Justice Fraser in Reece v Edmonton (City), 2011 ABCA at paragraph 159 and 160:

The starting point is this. The greatest achievement through the centuries is the evolution of democratic governance has been constitutionalism and the rule of law. The rule of law is is not the rule by law where citizens are bound to comply with the law but government is not. Or where one level of government chooses not to enforce laws binding another. Under the rule of law, citizens have the right to come to the courts to enforce the law as against the executive branch and courts have the right to review actions by the executive branch to determine whether they are in compliance with the law and where warranted to declare government unlawful. This right in the hands of the people is not a threat to demographic governance but its very assertion. Accordingly, the executive branch of government is not its own exclusive arbiter on whether it or its delagatee is acting within the limits of the law. The detrimental consequences of the exedcutive branch of government defining for itself - and by itself - the scope of its power have been revealed, often bloodily, in the tumult of history.

When government does not comply with the law, that is not merely non-compliance with a particular law, it is an affront to the rule of law itself. (emphasis added)

The Honourable Douglas R. CampbellBorn August 27, 1945 in Calgary, Alberta. Education at University of Calgary and University of Alberta. Called to the Bar of British Columbia, 1971. Associate of Campney and Murphy. Partner at Campbell, Gove. Appointed Judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia, 1974; Administrative Judge, Vancouver Family Court, 1978-80; Administrative Judge, Lower Mainland Family Court District, 1980-88; Deputy Judge of the Territorial Court of the N.W.T., 1991; Director, Western Judicial Education Centre, 1988-94; Adjunct Professor, Department of Criminology, Simon Fraser University since 1991. Appointed Judge of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division and ex officio member of the Court of Appeal and Judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada, December 8, 1995. Since July 2, 2003, the date of the coming into force of the Courts Administration Service Act, Judge of the Federal Court. Since January 1, 2011, Supernumerary Judge of the Federal Court. Address: Federal Court, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H9.

Yesterday's session began at 9:00 in the morning concluding at approximately 5:10. Usually, FCC Winnipeg Hearings are sparsely attended, however, this one was standing room only. All 40 or so public gallery seats were taken something staff hadn't seen before. There was even overflow in an adjacent room. Unbeknownst to us upon arrival, there was an attendance list on which, of course, our name did not appear. Using our charming personality, good looks and above all our modesty we were able to convince the young lady at the entrance of the Courtroom we were a "Media Citizen Journalist" and Blog Master who frequently attended Hearings. It worked!

Had to smile as we sat smugly in the Courtroom prior to the opening of proceedings as some mainstream journalists were being diverted to a waiting room.

By the tone and direction of Judge Campbell's questions to the two federal government lawyers at the end of the day it became clear, at least to us, the CWB was going to come away with something - perhaps not a full loaf of bread (sorry for the bad pun) but half is better than none.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
__________________________________________________

Good afternoon,

Court File No. / N° du dossier de la Cour: T-1057-11 // T-1735-11

Between / Entre: FRIENDS OF THE CWB et al v. AGC et al // CWB et al v. MAA et al

Enclosed is a true certified copy of the / Vous trouverez ci-jointe une copie conforme de

Order / l'ordonnance
Reasons / motifs
(one scanned document containing 3 documents; 2 orders, 1 set of reasons for orders)

Of / De CAMPBELL, J.
Dated / daté du 07-DEC-2011

For further information, or if you wish to receive this document in a different format, please contact the Registry at 204.983.2509.

Pour plus de renseignements, ou si vous désirez recevoir ce document dans un format différent, S.V.P. composer le 204.983.2509.

Renée Taillefer
Agent du greffe / Registry Officer
Winnipeg Local Office / Bureau local de Winnipeg
Courts Administration Service / Service administratif des tribunaux judiciaires