by SUSAN MANN
Grain Farmers of Ontario is turning its attention to documenting the impact on farmers of Ontario’s rules restricting the sales and use of neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seeds now that the Ontario Appeal Court has dismissed its challenge of them.
In a unanimous decision released Wednesday, the Ontario Appeal Court upheld an earlier Superior Court of Ontario decision from October 2015 dismissing Grain Farmers of Ontario’s request for a temporary suspension of the regulations. They came into effect July 1, 2015 and are being phased in over two years. Grain Farmers also requested in Superior Court a court review of the regulations.
“The motion judge (Suhail A. Q. Akhtar) was correct to strike the application on the basis that it presented no genuine issue for determination,” the written Appeal Court decision says. The judges who heard the case were: B. W. Miller, John Laskin and E.A. Cronk.
Although Grain Farmers of Ontario’s policy dispute with Ontario is real and may have significant consequences for grain farmers, “the problem of legal interpretation alleged by (Grain Farmers of Ontario) is artificial — the dispute between the parties does not turn on the interpretation of the regulation,” the written decision says.
The Appeal Court judges agreed with Akhtar that the court doesn’t have the power to rewrite or correct legislation that a party argues is faulty. It also isn’t the court’s job to decide on the efficacy or wisdom of government policy when there isn’t a constitutional or jurisdictional challenge, which isn’t the case with Grain Farmers’ action.
In its April 20 press release, Grain Farmers says “the seed treatment regulation and the precedent it sets for regulating farm inputs has a significant and detrimental impact on agriculture in Ontario.”
Grain Farmers also notes the organization went to the highest court possible in Ontario and “the judgment recognizes that there is no legal remedy for regulatory decisions, such as this one, made by government.”
Grain Farmers says in its release it is immediately engaging BDO, one of Canada’s leading accounting and advisory firms, to do an audit of the impact of the regulations on Ontario’s grain farmers. Grain Farmers will regularly inform government of its findings throughout the study.
Over the next three years, BDO will investigate the socio-economic impact of the consequences of the regulations, farmers’ costs to meet the new requirements and the “cost to the future of food and fibre production in Canada.”
Chair Mark Brock couldn’t be reached for comment.
UPDATE: Thurs. April 21, 2016—Grain Farmers of Ontario chair Mark Brock says they’re disappointed with the appeal court’s decision. “We felt we had a good case.”
Brock says the silver lining in the decision, however, is the “court understood the predicament we’re in. But they just said there wasn’t a legal opportunity for us to push back against the regulation.”
The Grain Farmers board plans to discuss the appeal court decision and “if we’re done doing the legal stuff,” he notes.
About the economic impact study being done by BDO, Brock says “we’re going to step back and see what BDO comes out with.”
As for industry/government discussions on how to change the regulations, Brock says they interested in meaningful changes “and not just surface changes.” END OF UPDATE
Stephen Denys, director of business development for Maizex Seeds, says the Appeal Court’s decision is “unfortunate news.” However, “it didn’t come as a complete shock. We knew there was no foregone conclusion as to whether it (Grain Farmers of Ontario’s appeal of the earlier decision denying its challenge of the regulations) would succeed or fail.”
The decision does “conclude the legal chapter on this,” he adds. Now grower and industry representatives have an opportunity to talk to government about the regulations “to make them a little bit more workable.”
Ontario Environment and Climate Change Ministry spokesman Gary S. Wheeler says by email “we are pleased with today’s decision and are acting to protect pollinator health.”
Wheeler adds the rules are being phased in to give farmers and seed vendors time to adapt.
The Ontario government’s new rules will reduce the acreage planted in Ontario with neonicotinoid-treated seeds by 80 per cent by 2017. Currently, almost all corn and 60 per cent of soybeans are planted using the treated seeds.
The Ontario government has argued that neonicotinoid pesticides are harmful to beneficial insects, such as bees. BF
Comments
Although blaming the victim is normally counter-productive, in this case the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) can be seen to be their own nemesis because of the one-sided way they have continually touted ethanol mandates. Or, in other words, GFO's seemingly new-found concern for "farmers bottom line" rings rather-hollow considering that they never showed no concern about the "bottom line" of hog and cattle feeders adversely affected by ethanol.
In addition, one hopes that whatever report BDO eventually proffers will recognize that bees exist and that beekeeping contributes to the economy - however, given the plethora of reports GFO commissioned in an attempt to whitewash ethanol, the odds are good that this report will join the dusty pile of badly-designed reports already in GFO's archives.
Finally, when it comes to the realization for the need to make neonics regulations "a little more workable", the OFA started to do just exactly that well-over a year ago, and suffered the vitriol of GFO types for doing so. All GFO has done is:
(A) stalled for a year
(B) squandered a lot of check-off money
(C) ruined its reputation as a credible and co-operative organization
An apology to OFA is long-overdue, but considering that GFO and hubris seem to be two sides of the same coin, it, although entirely needed and appropriate, isn't likely to happen.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
Grain Farmers of Ontario. You guys should be writing comedy:
http://gfo.ca/Home/Post/1200/Grain-Farmers-of-Ontario-congratulates-new-...
Jamie MacMaster
North Glengarry
She's such a disappointment, eh?
http://gfo.ca/Home/Post/1200/Grain-Farmers-of-Ontario-congratulates-new-...
So what's next? Something drastic? Like maybe give her a B- on her report card?
Jamie MacMaster
North Glengarry
The larger lesson to be learned from the whole neonics caper is that primary agriculture, with the exception of the Quebec dairy lobby, doesn't have much, if any, clout anywhere.
Even though we have a lot of farm gate sales, there are still only between 40,000 and 100,000 people who would call themselves farmers in some way, shape or form, out of almost 14 million people living in Ontario. That's not enough to have any sort of significant clout whatsoever.
While farmers and farm groups can be dismissive towards the Premier and the government she leads, we, in agriculture, got only a partial restriction on the use of neonicotinoids. The government initially wanted a complete ban and they would have had public opinion on their side if they did.
GFO taking the government to court over neonics never was anything more than a money-wasting demonstration of ideological testosterone over-ruling reality.
Come on, really, GFO, the government gave you ethanol mandates and then partially took away neonics - most people would call that a "draw", would get over it and would move on. Please do.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
While grain farmers continue to fulminate about the heavy-hand of the present Liberal government of Ontario when it comes to neonicotinoid restrictions, they should rise with one voice to denounce one of their own, an ethanol company, for being the largest corporate donor (some $433,000) to the Ontario Liberal party since 2007.
Somehow, complaining about government policy (neonics restrictions) when your pockets are full of government money (subsidies in the form of ethanol mandates) does not a sound argument make.
How long, to the nearest century, is it likely to take the Grain Farmers of Ontario to admit, or even realize, they're trying to have it both ways?
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
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