Dennis v. Canada
Canadian Wheat Board Class Action
What the class action is about
A class action was commenced in the Winnipeg Court of Queens Bench seeking damages for farmers who allege that the former Conservative government wrongly allowed the transfer of $151 million that should have gone to them when it dismantled and privatized the Canadian Wheat Board
The statement of claim is here.
Updates
June 29, 2022 – Notice of Certification
→ All class members in this class action should read this Notice of Certification carefully as it may affect your rights.
April 5, 2022 – Class action certified!
The Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench has certified this class action. You can read the decision here. Stay tuned for more information about next steps.
November 22, 2021 – Certification motion heard
The Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench heard the plaintiff’s certification motion on November 22, 2021. The court will release its decision in due course.
December 2, 2020 – Court of Appeal grants plaintiff’s appeal
The Manitoba Court of Appeal has granted the plaintiff’s appeal of last year’s decision by a motions judge to strike out the statement of claim. The Court of Appeal held that the decision of the motions judge was “so clearly wrong as to amount to an injustice”, which is the test for overturning a decision to strike a statement of claim. The decision of the Court of Appeal means that the plaintiff can now seek to have the action certified as a class action.
You can read the Court of Appeal’s decision here.
October 30, 2019 – Court rules against plaintiff
A judge of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench has granted the government’s appeal and ordered that the statement of claim be struck. You can read the decision here. The plaintiff intends to appeal this decision.
May 28, 2019 – Government appeal of motion to strike heard by Court of Queen’s Bench
Louis and Emily (centre) with co-counsel and clients outside the Winnipeg courthouse
Following its loss in its motion to strike our the statement of claim (see below), the Government appealed the decision. In the meantime, the Honourable Justice Christopher Martin of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench was appointed to be the case management judge. This means he will oversee all preliminary steps and motions in this case, including the motion for certification.
On May 28, 2019, the Government’s appeal of last year’s motion to strike decision was argued before Justice Martin. The decision was reserved.
May 28, 2018 – Government fails to convince Master to strike out statement of claim
A Master of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba has dismissed the Government’s attempt to strike out the statement of claim as disclosing no cause of action.
The ruling means that the plaintiffs can now seek to have the action certified as a class action, with Mr. Dennis as representative plaintiff.
The representative plaintiff, Andrew Dennis, fighting for Canadian farmers
Lawyers
Practice Areas
Civil Litigation, Class Action Litigation, Public Interest Litigation