WINNIPEG - Twelve barley producers are taking the federal government to court over an announcement that gives farmers a choice of how they sell their grain.
Members of a group called the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board plan to argue that Ottawa doesn't have the right to end the board's marketing monopoly.
The group made the pledge Monday, just hours after Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl visited a grain farm near Winnipeg to announce the wheat board's monopoly on barley marketing will end as of Aug. 1.
The Conservatives made the changes through a cabinet order, which Friends of the CWB lawyer Anders Bruun argues isn't legal, adding any amendments would have to be passed by Parliament.
"There must be a bill introduced into Parliament to give effect to that change. That is not the route being taken at this time,'' Bruun said.
"It's a fairly clear and obvious mistake that's been made.''
Stewart Wells, president of the National Farmers Union and a farmer near Swift Current, Sask., is one of twelve farmers who have signed on to the draft copy of the lawsuit. He said the Friends of the CWB feel they didn't have any choice but to take legal action.
"We've been forced into a corner by the federal government. They'll only talk to producers who want to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board,'' said Wells.
Bruun said they plan to start legal proceedings in Federal Court as early as Tuesday, adding that's the day the government's order in council will be made public.
Strahl couldn't be reached for comment following Bruun's announcement. Earlier in the day, the minister addressed a news conference attended by about two dozen cheering farmers, where he said the change is "about freedom for our farmers.''
Wheat board officials declined to comment on the lawsuit. Spokeswoman Maureen Fitzhenry said the board will meet Tuesday to consider its options.
"The board's going to have to figure out what to do next,'' Fitzhenry said.
"There's uncertainty that's been introduced into the marketplace given the government's announcement, but that's been the case for some time.''
The government's move follows a plebiscite in which 62 per cent of 29,000 farmers voted in favour of ending the board's monopoly on marketing barley.
As they announced plans to launch the lawsuit, the Friends of the CWB claimed the question asked to farmers was misleading.
The issue of whether to end the wheat board's monopoly on marketing has sparked bitter debates in both agricultural and political arenas.
The NDP government in Manitoba confirmed Monday it has earmarked $20,000 for the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board, the group launching the lawsuit.
Manitoba Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk insisted the move is not political, even though it pits provincial New Democrats against the Tories in Ottawa.
"I don't think it boils down to Conservative, or NDP or Liberal, because the farmers I have talked to with regard to the monopoly and the powers of the Canadian Wheat Board recognize its value, and they come from many different political stripes,'' she said.
Last December, wheat board president Adrian Measner was fired for speaking out against the end of the marketing monopoly.
At the time, Strahl said the Conservatives were simply following through on an election promise to give western farmers the freedom to choose whether to sell their wheat and barley through the board or independently.
