P.E.I. potato farmers take federal government to court as export ban on seed potatoes continues
Potato farmers on Prince Edward Island are taking the federal government to court due to the decision to restrict the movement of P.E.I. seed potatoes.
In 2021, a ministerial order stopped the transport of the Island's best-known export, table and seed potatoes, to the United States after potato wart was found in a few Island fields.
The shipments of table potatoes resumed in April 2022 after the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave Island farms the all-clear.
However, seed potatoes, which account for about 10 per cent of the Island's annual potato output, are still banned from the United States pending the outcome of a more thorough U.S. Department of Agriculture review. There are also restrictions on their sale to other Canadian provinces.
The fungal parasite -- a disease that disfigures potatoes but poses no threat to human health -- spreads through the movement of infected potatoes, soil and farm equipment.
The application by the P.E.I. Potato Board is calling on the federal court to strike down decisions made by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the federal minister of agriculture, who ordered the ban in 2021.
Lawyers for P.E.I. potato farmers argued the decisions were beyond the scope of CFIA, did not follow fair process, and was not reasonable given the degree of potato wart found in P.E.I. fields.
They also say the CFIA has damaged the reputation of P.E.I. potatoes by calling the Island "infested" with potato wart.
“Would you want to buy potatoes from an infested place? Probably not. So, the longer that black cloud is hanging over P.E.I., the more damaging it is," said Mark Ledwell, one of the P.E.I. Potato Board’s lawyers.
According to the farmers’ lawyers, only 0.4 per cent of potato fields on the island have confirmed potato wart in the last 20 years since it was first discovered.
Lawyers for CFIA say the word "infected" in this context is a technical description under CFIA and trade regulations.
They also argued it is the mandate of the food agency to protect Canadian agriculture, adding that the United States officials were threatening a blanket ban on Canadian potato imports. They say this created the urgency required to issue the decisions.
According to government lawyers, the U.S. didn’t want P.E.I. potatoes, meaning it was no longer meaningful to continue to issue export certificates.
To date, CFIA has taken 45,000 soil samples from the Island as part of an ongoing investigation.
So far, 35,000 have been tested, with three coming back positive for the disease.
The judge reserved his decision on the matter Thursday, but promised a quick decision in light of the quickly approaching planting season.
With files from The Canadian Press.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.