• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Ridley Appeals Quebec Court Ruling

Mike

Well-known member
Canada Feed Company Ridley Appeals Quebec BSE Ruling



WINNIPEG (Dow Jones)--Canada-based feed company Ridley Inc. (RCL.T) said Monday that it has appealed a Quebec Superior Court's decision that permits a class action lawsuit over bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, to move through the court system.



In a news release, Ridley said it was seeking a stay of the proposed Quebec action pending decisions by the Ontario Court of Appeals in a parallel lawsuit.



Four lawsuits were filed in April 2005 against Ridley and the Canadian government in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. The suits were filed due to cattle farm losses incurred after many countries banned the import of Canadian beef and cattle following an Alberta BSE case in May 2003.



A June 2 ruling by the Quebec Superior Court permits a class action lawsuit over the BSE issue to proceed through the courts. The Quebec court stated the plaintiffs in Ontario differ from Quebec, hence the Quebec case should be treated independently.



Allegations of the plaintiffs, as indicated in an April 2005 Ridley company statement, are that the feed company should have discontinued using ruminant meat and bone meal in its cattle feed prior to U.S. and Canadian regulations banning the use in August 1997. Further allegations charged Ridley as the supplier of feed to the BSE affected Alberta cow early in its life before the 1997 ban.



The company asserted that nothing in the four provincial cases alleged any direct connection between the plaintiffs and Ridley. The company also said that a Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or CFIA, BSE investigation found no company wrongdoing. Ridley stated that it had discontinued the use of ruminant meat and bone meal in its cattle feed prior to the CFIA ban.



Ridley thinks the Quebec Superior Court's June 2 ruling was in error and "raises important public interest issues and novel points of law regarding the judicial management of multi-jurisdictional, quasi-identical class actions," stated the company release.



Source: Kevin Kehler, Dow Jones Newswires; 204-947-1700;
 

Murgen

Well-known member
If you are interested in the appeal papers, leave me your email address, I can email them to you. I only have them in Word format, and they are pretty long.
 

Latest posts

Top