Via Le Revue Gauche a Federal Court judge has ruled that Conservative government actions to change the operation of the Canadian Wheat Board are not being conducted in a lawful manner.
A judge has struck down the federal government's move to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its monopoly on western barley sales.In short, this is telling Harper and Chuck Strahl that when they govern by fiat they are breaking the law.In a ruling issued Tuesday, Federal Court Judge Dolores Hansen said the government overstepped its authority in trying to end the monopoly through a simple cabinet order.
The decision is a victory for supporters of the wheat board, who argue that having all barley sales handled through the board gives farmers better prices.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government announced earlier this year it would end the board's monopoly on barley as of Aug. 1, and give farmers the option of selling independently.
The government changed the board's barley-handling through regulations approved by the Conservative cabinet.
Critics successfully argued the change can only be made by passing a law in Parliament — something that could be blocked by the opposition.
In 1998 the control of the Canadian Wheat Board was handed to farmers in the form of a 15 member board. The federal government has no authority to override the board by way of cabinet order because the Canadian Wheat Board, while established under federal legislation, is not a government department and not a Crown Corporation.
If Harper and Strahl want to change how the Canadian Wheat Board operates they have to get legislation through parliament to change this act.
That isn't going to happen.
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Sidebar: Apparently, if you're attempting to read this post from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, you can't do it from your government desktop computer. It seems certain "liberal" blogs are now blocked on some government computers.
We'll be talking about that later.
Oh. Yes. We. Will.
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