The National Farmers Union – Ontario is
planning to file for a judicial review of the tribunal’s refusal to grant it
accreditation during several hearings over the last 18 months.
It is due to appear in Superior Court
in Ottawa on Sept. 10.
Lawyer Sean Bawden says the NFU will
claim that the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food Appeal Tribunal did not
have the power to ask the questions the panel members did during the
re-accreditation hearings.
The panel was led by lawyer Nicholas
Richter. The other members were Jane Sadler-Richards and Mary Field.
I sat through some of the hearings and noted that the NFU-O didn't hire a lawyer to represent them, so I find it curious that the organization is filing a legal challenge. On the other hand, Richter is a sharp lawyer I admire, having seen him in action both chairing hearings and representing a client at the pork-industry appeal.
The tribunal decisions regarding the NFU took a long time to be posted on the internet and were closely-reasoned, law-based and quite technical rulings. I think Bawden and the NFU are in for quite a battle if they think they can persuade a court to over-turn the tribunal decisions.
Bawden told Blackburn News that
the tribunal erred in concluding that the Ontario branch does not represent
Ontario farmers. The tribunal didn’t say that, but did find that the Ontario
organization is not adequately independent from the national organization in
Saskatoon.
Bawden says the judicial review is a
good route to go since he argues we wouldn’t want the government to be changing
the rules to fit the circumstances. The government is undertaking a review of
the entire farm registration and general farm organizations funding
legislation.
Farmers are required to register
every year to receive benefits, such as property tax breaks, and to choose a
farm organization to support with their registration fee. Having chosen an
organization, they can apply to it for a rebate of the fee.
The tribunal surprised the three
general farm organizations that have operated under this legislation for a
number of years, gaining previous re-accreditations from the tribunal, by ruling
that the organizations lacked clear evidence that farmers really want to be members
of their organizations.
Bawden says the ideal result would be
to have the judge order the tribunal to re-accredit the NFU-O.
He says an alternative would be for
the judge to order the tribunal to take another look at it’s decision, only
this time follow the judge’s strict instructions on what it can and cannot
consider in that decision.
The Ontario Superior Court hearing is
scheduled for September 10th in Ottawa.
