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HIGHLIGHTS
A Master of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench has dismissed applications to strike a Statement of Claim and for summary judgment brought by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency against two Alberta seed potato growers. The CFIA had imposed quarantines on the seed growers' fields; directed the destruction of seed inventories and closed the Canada-U.S./Mexico borders to seed potato exports based on 2007 test results which indicated the presence of Potato Cyst Nematode in the potato growers' fields. The presence of Nematodes could not be verified through subsequent tests. The potato growers sued for damages alleging negligence. The CFIA argued that the potato growers could not advance a claim because they had received federal assistance for their loss pursuant to a Seed Potato Assistance Program established to compensate growers for their losses and that the claim was therefore barred by the provisions of the Federal Crown Liability and Proceedings Act. The CFIA also argued that the claim was barred by provisions of the Plant Protection Act which granted immunity to the Federal Crown for liability for, among other things, laboratory testing. The Master concluded that potato growers' claims were sufficiently novel that there may be grounds on which they might succeed at trial. (North Bank Potato Farms Ltd. v Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CALN/2015-024, [2015] A.J. No. 1119, Alberta Court of Queen's Bench)
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