Prairie barley growers and end users should soon get the market certainty they need to make decisions in time for the next crop year starting Aug. 1, 2008, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Wednesday.
The Federal Court of Appeal has confirmed it will hear on Feb. 26, 2008 the government’s appeal of a July 31 decision that overturned plans to end the Canadian Wheat Board’s single marketing desk for Prairie barley.
The government had planned to hold what it called “Barley Freedom Day” on Aug. 1 this year, but was blocked by a federal court ruling favouring CWB supporters who disputed the government’s process.
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The government had planned to use regulation to change the CWB’s mandate, rather than amend the CWB Act through a vote in Parliament. A Federal Court judge on July 31 ruled that the government could not go the former route. And legislative amendments, if introduced in the minority-government Commons, were seen as unlikely to get past any of the opposition parties.
“We will not be commenting on the details of the case, but we remain confident in our arguments that the government has the legal authority to change the CWB’s mandate by regulation on behalf of western Canadian barley farmers,” Ritz said in a statement.
