All Things Not Considered Equal
The Prairie Centre Policy Institute has reported on several occasions
the inconsistency in the application of the Canadian Wheat Board Act in
the rest of Canada, particularly Ontario and Quebec.
Alberta attempted to clarify whether the jurisdiction of the Canadian Wheat
Board Act applied to the provinces by initiating a legal action which was
called "Marketing Choice Program: Whether the Alberta Government Can
Legally Facilitate the Export of Wheat and Barley." This action
was filed on July 22, 1996.
There was no legislation that would prevent provinces from exercising
that right if they decided to market grain on behalf o their provincial
farmers, just like Ontario is presently doing. The Government of
Canada and the CWB was sure they would lose this challenge, so they set
out to amend the law by introducing Bill C-72.
According to a report entitled "Civil Cases Status Report
(obtained under the Access to Information Act) which reported on the court
challenge by Alberta, "...before the case was to be heard, however,
Bill C-72, an Act to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act was introduced in
Parliament. As this bill would have made the case moot, the case was
held in abeyance pending the bills outcome. Bill C-72 was not passed
into law; it died on the order paper when a federal election was called on
April 276, 1997.
Determined not to surrender the jurisdiction of the Canadian Wheat
Board Act to the provinces, "the proposed legislation was
resurrected, however, in the form of Bill C-4, which was introduced in the
new session of Parliament on September 25, 1997."
The report continues:
Although the reference case was scheduled to be heard in Edmonton
on November 24 - 28, 1997, on November 12, 1997 the court again postponed
its hearing until the spring 1998, pending the fate of Bill C-4. However,
due to the delay of the passage of Bill C-4, the court re-considered
this postponement on December 15, 1997 and set a hearing date for the
case on April 7 - 9, 1998 in the Alberta Court of Appeal, based on the
fact that Bill C-4 was under consideration by the Senate.
The adjournment was granted sine die (until further notice) by
Justice Cote, meaning that the case was unlikely to be heard at all
unless Bill C-4 was not passed into law or if it passed without clause 2
(making the CWB Act binding on a province) intact.
On June 11, 1998 Bill C-4 was passed by Parliament and received Royal
Assent.
On July 22, 1998, legal council for Alberta filed Notice of
Discontinuance of the Reference. The Canadian Wheat Board
jurisdiction is now firmly entrenched by an Act of Parliament to include
all the provinces of Canada.
However, it would appear that Quebec and Ontario are the possible
exception. Quebec just ignores the CWB and Ontario will begin to
issue its own export permits. Meanwhile, western farmers get the
heavy hand of government and leg irons and chains. The road to
serfdom is getting pretty crowded out here.
Ken Dillen
September 23, 2002 |
