Canadian Wheat Board Fund Class Action Certified

Canadian Wheat Board Contingency Fund Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A class action lawsuit filed by Edward Andrew Dennis against Her Majesty The Queen in the Right of Canada has been certified. 
• Why: Dennis claims the former Conservative government of Canada deprived farmers of their rightful funds by allowing $145 million to be transferred to a contingency fund after the Canadian Wheat Board was dismantled and privatised. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit is being commenced in the Winnipeg Court of Queen’s Bench. 

A class action lawsuit accusing the former Conservative government of Canada of wrongly allowing a transfer of $145 million to a contingency fund as it worked to dismantle and privatise the Canadian Wheat Board has been granted class certification. 

Plaintiff Edward Andrew Dennis claims the $145 million should have gone to farmers, such as himself, who had earned that money from grain they had sold to the Canadian Wheat Board. 

Dennis brought the class action lawsuit on behalf of grain producers or their estates who had sold grain through the Canadian Wheat Board on or after Aug. 1, 2010, and before July 31, 2012. 

Eligible class members are those who were entitled to “an equitable distribution of the surplus, if any, arising from the operations of the Board during that two year period,” according to the class action lawsuit. 

Farmers would typically sell “between 18 and 24 million tonnes” of grain through the Canadian Wheat Board annually, which would then go to customers around the world, according to the class action lawsuit. 

“Farmers, such as Mr. Dennis, were not obliged to deal with the Board unless they intended to have the grain sold for either export or human consumption in Canada,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Canada Raised Contingency Fund Limit From $60M To $200M, Class Action Says

Dennis claims that, in an effort to fund transforming the Canadian Wheat Board into a privately held entity, the government of Canada raised the amount given to a contingency fund from $60 million to $200 million in late 2011. 

The money that went into the contingency fund would have otherwise gone to farmers, Dennis argues, and, further, he says the state of the grain market at the time meant there was no risk of potential losses that would have justified putting more money into the contingency fund. 

“There was therefore no lawful justification for the Minister to increase the maximum amount that could be credited to the Contingency Fund nor to direct profits and gains to be allocated to increase the amount in the Contingency Fund,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Dennis is requesting declaratory relief along with damages for himself and all class members. 

In January 2020, testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency revealed that Canadian oats and grains in popular breakfast products contained glyphosate, a widely used herbicide. 

Are you a farmer who was injured financially after the Canadian Wheat Board was dismantled and privatised? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Steven Shrybman of Goldblatt Partners LLP, Jordan Goldblatt of Adair Barristers LLP and Anders Bruun. 

The Canadian Wheat Board Contingency Fund Class Action Lawsuit is Dennis v. Her Majesty The Queen in the Right of Canada, Case No. C1-17-01-07668, in the Winnipeg Court of Queen’s Bench.

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