Mink appeals dismissed

A challenge of the province’s shutdown of the BC mink sector has failed.

A decision dated May 7 in BC Supreme Court dismissed challenges five of the province’s mink farms filed in 2022 to the province’s decision in November 2021 to shut down their sector.

The province, former agriculture minister Lana Popham, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and former chief veterinarian Dr. Rayna Gunvaldsen were named in suits launched by each of the five farms: C&A Mink Ranch Ltd., Dargatz Mink Ranch Ltd., Dogwood Fur Farms Ltd., Engerbretson Fur Farm Ltd. and Williams Fur Farm Ltd.

The five lawsuits each alleged “misfeasance in public office and constructive taking” by the defendants, allegations which Justice Amy Francis said are flawed.

Francis ruled that “the plaintiffs have failed to plead facts capable of establishing that any of the defendants acted unlawfully” and further that “the claim of constructive taking is fundamentally flawed.”

Francis said that the enactment of the order in council shutting down mink farming in the province, even if “for political reasons rather than public health reasons” is not unlawful.

Meanwhile, the alleged benefits flowing to the province from the industry’s shutdown – including “the preservation, promotion, and protection” of both public and animal health and welfare – are “completely untethered to the plaintiffs’ property.” Therefore, there was no grounds for the claims of “constructive taking” of the farmers’ property by the province.

On these grounds, Francis dismissed the five lawsuits outright, denying them the right to amend their claims.

The dismissal of the five suits follows the failure of a challenge the Canada Mink Breeders Association and British Columbia Mink Producers Association made in 2022 regarding the November 2021 order in council.