The candidates in the Canadian Wheat Board election, including for District 8 in the Weyburn region, will find out on Thursday, Dec. 23, if the tabulation of the voting can proceed before the New Year rings in.

A hearing was held on Monday in Federal Court in Ottawa of an application by local candidate Art Mainil for an injunction on the election just held, and Justice Anne McTavish reserved her judgment until Thursday.

The hearing lasted about five-and-a-half hours, with Mainil and his lawyer, and fellow candidate Rod Flaman appearing by video link from Weyburn, along with another candidate Tom Jackson, running in District 4, appearing in a linkup from Edmonton. Another candidate without intervenor status watched the proceedings from Winnipeg.

The election coordinator, Peter Eckersley of Meyers Norris Penny, said the hearing wasn't exactly like a court trial as this was an application hearing.

He noted both sides had previously filed their documentation, with Mainil saying there were a number of irregularities in the voting process, followed by the defence made by the Canadian Wheat Board and by Meyers Norris Penny.

Mainil's allegations include that 800 people on the voting list were not sent their ballots until the voting process was already underway, and by the election regulations voters should have a certain number of days to consider their vote. Many did receive the ballots before the deadline but some didn't. One person who initially didn't get a ballot was a candidate in District 4, and he was sent one late, very close to the voting deadline of Dec. 3; also, the deadline was not extended for those who received ballots after Dec. 3.

Eckersley said in a previous interview that while it was true 800 people had not been sent their ballots, it was purely through human error. He noted these people had not made deliveries to the CWB in the last two years.

After the two sides made their presentations, the two intervenors, Jackson and Flaman, also spoke to the court. Jackson spoke in support of Mainil's case, while Flaman supported the election process as it exists. Flaman also said that Mainil's allegations about the irregularities were unfounded.

"Justice McTavish indicated she was not prepared to give her final verbal decision then," said Eckersley, adding the justice will send out her judgment in written form on Dec. 23; the time was not specified.

"From the wheat board's standpoint and our standpoint, we were pleased the justice indicated she would send us the judgment on Thursday. That certainly would give us direction one way or the other what's going to happen," said Eckersley.

If the justice finds for the CWB and Meyers Norris Penny, the alternate tabulation day will then be held on Wednesday, Dec. 29, and the results should be posted by late that day or on Dec. 30, said Eckersley. If Mainil wins his application, he will ask for a new election to be held, using Election Canada rules.

"We've said, without prejudice, that in the event we are allowed to proceed before the end of the year, it will go on Dec. 29. Because of the compressed time frame, we would do an extended day and complete the tabulation in one day, which was not what we had originally planned for," he said.

There will be recourse for a recount, should that be required. If the first place candidate wins by less than one per cent, the second-place candidate can ask for or demand for a recount, according to the election regulations.