Should courts intervene to save the Canadian Wheat Board?

UPDATE: The Canadian Wheat Board announced Friday that its remaining directors met and have decided to discontinue legal challenges to the legislation ending the board's monopoly on marketing the wheat and barley grown by Western farmers.

Original post: A bill ending the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly over western wheat was made law late Thursday after Gov. Gen. David Johnston gave it royal assent.

Hay bales sit in field near Saskatoon. The new law would end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly over Western Canada's wheat and barley farmers. (Rob Gillies/Associated Press)The law passed despite pending a court challenge.

On Dec. 7, a Federal Court judge ruled that Ottawa violated existing legislation by failing to hold a plebiscite among grain farmers; the federal government is appealing that ruling.
    
The Canadian Wheat Board said it would ask the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench to rule that the new law is invalid and order that it not be implemented while the case is still being heard.

But the government pressed ahead with passing the law, invoking closure in the Senate to speed the process. It wanted the law in place before Christmas to allow farmers to plan for the next crop year. The open wheat market could be in place by Aug. 1, the start of the next crop year.

Supporters of the wheat board say it prevents producers from competing against each other for sales. Opponents say they want the freedom to seek better deals on the open market. They point out that producers of other grains and wheat farmers in other parts of Canada already have that freedom.

Should the court intervene to stop the end of the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on prairie grain? Or should the wheat market open up in August as scheduled? Let us know what you think.



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