By John Gormley

[malta]

To no one's surprise, increasingly desperate Canadian Wheat Board directors have decided to sue the Harper government over its intention to wind up the board's monopoly powers over the sale of Prairie wheat, durum and barley.

Besides defending an outdated and deeply ideological position at odds with modern farmers, the CWB will have an uphill pull in this lawsuit.

While amendments to the Wheat Board's enabling legislation a few years ago provided that farmers must consent to certain changes within the CWB's operations, even the most activist judge would find it difficult to deny Parliament's ability to repeal a law passed by Parliament.

For all its talk of being a producer-owned-and-operated mandatory pooling system, the Wheat Board was created by statute. And what Parliament creates by law it can unwind by law.

The only pity in this painfully slow dance of resistance being waged by Wheat Board directors - some of whom were described by one of their former colleagues as "ideological bullies" - is how much money this is going to end up costing farmers.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix


Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/That cautious leaders debate/5620293/story.html#ixzz1cEAYP65G

[sumdumguy]

Minister ritz should have turfed them long before
they had a chance to pull off this stunt. If they
are stripped of their jobs, the suit can be dropped
just as fast as it was initiated. What law firm
would be ignorant enough to advise them to sue
their boss, especially when the boss is the
government? Good Luck!

[bluefargo]

I'm not a lawyer nor do I claim to have any special knowledge of the law. But I have learned one thing in my lifetime: When things get in front of a judge anything can happen.
Never assume that because something isn't logical or doesn't make common sense that a judge will throw it out. In a courtroom with a good lawyer and sympathetic judge anything is possible.

[Braveheart]

Bluefargo, I agree. The venue for this case is in Winnipeg. Anything can happen. I hope the gov't doesn't take this lightly.