29 Jun 2023
PRAIRIE PRIDE NATURAL FOODS LTD. v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
- Prairie Pride Natural Foods Ltd. filed a judicial review application against a decision by the Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal dated 2022.
- Prairie Pride, a poultry processor in Saskatchewan, received a notice of violation on April 10, 2022, with a $15,000 penalty for transporting chickens in a truck with defective tarps and inadequate ventilation.
- The company emailed a review request on May 9, 2022, and followed with a registered mail copy on May 18, 2022, which was received on May 24, 2022.
- The Tribunal deemed the review request inadmissible on July 8, 2022, due to late submission according to the prescribed timeline.
- Prairie Pride contended that the Tribunal's decision was incorrect and procedurally unfair for not allowing a chance to be heard.
- The reviewing judge allowed the judicial review based on the merits, without the need to address the alleged procedural fairness breach.
- The judge found the Tribunal's decision unreasonable for failing to consider the necessity of sending a follow-up copy for the review request to be valid.
- The judicial review application was granted, the Tribunal’s decision was vacated, and the case was sent back to the Tribunal for reconsideration, with costs awarded to Prairie Pride (amount not specified).