A court has overturned a federal government gag order that kept the Canadian Wheat Board from spending money to defend its marketing system.
The Conservative government wants to end the board’s monopoly on grain sales by allowing producers to sell independently.
Government lawyers argued the cabinet order simply ensured the wheat board did not spend farmers’ money inappropriately.
But Federal Court Justice Roger Hughes ruled that under the wheat board act, it’s up to the board’s 10 elected directors to safeguard producer interests.
Hughes wrote that the government didn’t demonstrate a pressing economic need for the gag order.
