A fight for truth and justice

2012-2018

Hello. My name is Trena and I am fundraising for my husband Wayne.

Wayne farmed his entire life. It was his passion and livelihood.

In 2012, he secured a sublease for over 600 acres in West St. Paul, MB. The total acreage was 1310 acres and an elderly gentleman held the lease at this property for over 20 years.

Wayne farmed this land for several years as a sublessee. The land was very prone to flooding and known as the "The Bowl". He used his excavator and input several thousands of dollars of drainage on the property. The landlord's agent (Norm) acknowledged the significant improvements to the farmland in several written notes from his annual visits to the farm.

Wayne was told directly by Norm that he could "recoup his costs by renting the land" and Wayne looked forward to one day taking over the 1310 acres.

2018

The day finally came in 2018 when Wayne could lease the entire 1310 acres as the sole main lessee. It was a long wait but Wayne was patient and an excellent tenant to the landlord for several years. Wayne called the Norm in July 2018 to discuss putting in an offer to lease. After a lengthy discussion, Norm told Wayne that he would be in Manitoba in July and that he would meet with Wayne after a meeting with another farmer.

In July of 2018, Norm attended at the farm and told Wayne that "He better bid north of $100 plus taxes or don't bother". Norm also specifically stated that "he better be quick with his offer as they're ready to finalize a lease".

Wayne was devastated with this news. He was told he could recoup his costs of drainage by renting the land. The lease in 2018 was $65 per acre and the landlord had used Wayne's drainage work against him.

Norm made direct comments that misled Wayne into believing that he had to bid more than $100 plus taxes in order to retain the lease and not lose the thousands of dollars of work he put on the acres over the course of 6 years. We sat down and ran numbers. It would be tight but there was no other farmland to lease and Wayne's livelihood was on the line. We put in an offer of $105 plus taxes in order to secure the farmland and knock out the competition. As it turns out, there was no competition.

2019

As all farmers know, 2019 was considered the worst harvest in 50 years for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. We couldn't get the crop off. The rain didn't stop and then it snowed. It was a total loss. Wayne was in constant contact with the landlord over this time. There was an extension to the payment due October 31 until December 1. We soon realized that this wasn't enough time. Crop insurance was very behind and wouldn't even be assessing until Spring 2020. This was explained to Norm in December 2020. Over the course of 6 years, Wayne had never been late in paying the rent. On December 23rd, 2 days before Christmas, we received an email demanding payment in 10 days. It was completely shocking.

After lengthy discussions, we decided that we couldn't be in business with people like this. They do not understand nor respect farming. We knew we had signed a 5 year lease and emailed that we would be seeking to sublease.

This is when the truth is revealed.

Upon advertising and speaking with several farmers, we could not find the farmer that had bid $100 plus taxes. Eventually we spoke to a local farmer (I will call him John) who said that he had emailed the landlord's agent in 2018 and had bid $100 an acre. "John" is the farmer that Norm had met with the day prior to meeting with Wayne.

When Norm attended at "John's" home, he told him he wanted $100 plus taxes. John told him absolutely not. I'm not paying that. The deal was over and offer revoked. John testified to that in court.

Norm was very misleading in stating that Wayne had to be "North of $100". There was no offer from "John" as he had declined the landlord agent's terms of price AND payment terms.

2020

A partial payment was sent to landlord in January 2020 leaving $35,000 outstanding in rent. However, upon discovering that we had been blatantly lied to, we advised the landlord in a lengthy email in February 2020 that we had discovered the truth.

The landlord filed a lawsuit in 2020. Wayne countersued for unjust enrichment (the drainage work completed) as well as rescission of the contract due to negligent misrepresentation.

2025 trial

At the trial, "John" testified that he would not agree to the landlord's request of $100 plus taxes. At trial, Norm was directly asked "Did you have an offer when you met with me at the farm in July 2018" to which Norm replied "NO". It was all a lie.

2026 Ruling

The ruling finally came January 2026 and resulted in a judgement for $97570 for the landlord. The judge ruled that the agent was misleading regarding the property taxes but not misleading regarding the offer of $100. Despite the fact that "John" testified that he would not pay that amount and there was no longer any offer. Despite the fact that Norm also testified that he did not have an offer when he met with Wayne.

The judge ruled that Wayne has to pay the $35K rent, interest, and the shortfall that the landlord incurred over 5 years which is over $45K. The only item the judge would not allow the landlord is the property taxes over 5 years because Norm was Only misleading regarding the property taxes. The judge completely ignored the testimony in which there was no offer. The judge agreed that there was a duty of care owed to Wayne and that the agent was misleading. However still awarded deception.

The 5 year rent shortfall of $45K is based on an inflated rent which was based on a LIE. No farmer will input an offer of $105 when they were paying $65 per acre unless induced to do so.

Wayne was backed into a corner. All of his equipment was at this farm. All of his efforts over 6 years were at this farm. The landlord took advantage of that.

At discovery, prior to trial, the agent testified that "I ask all interested farmers to input their best offer". Wayne spoke with Norm prior to his visit in 2018 for over 30 minutes that he was going to put in an offer to lease. At no time during that call did Norm ask Wayne to submit his best offer even though there was an established 6 year relationship. Norm had a plan to deceive Wayne and get an inflated price knowing the work that had been done to improve the value of the farmland.

The Landlord ~ Investors buying Farmland

The landlord is an investor. He is a very wealthy man in Vancouver. The landlord's agent Norm is in Vancouver as well. In our opinion, These people have no respect for farmers nor any connection to farming and the unique aspects of farming. The irony is that the wealthy landlord claimed bankruptcy twice within the 5 years that it took for our trial to be heard in court. His bankruptcies were related to some clothing stores he owns. Owing millions in rent to landlords for his retail mall spaces. Can't make this stuff up.

The court erred in the fact that the agent was only misleading related to the property taxes. He was also misleading in regards to an offer he DID NOT have. Unbeknownst to Wayne, he was competing against himself. To also make Wayne pay 5 years of rental shortfall when the inflated rent was based on a lie by the landlords own doing, is unjust.

We have to appeal this and we need some assistance with legal fees. We self-represented at trial after spending thousands in legal fees and cannot do the appeal on our own. We also will most likely have to put an amount in trust for their legal fee which will be returned upon a reversal of this judgement.

Deception in business should not be rewarded. The Supreme court has commented several times related to being misleading in contracts. There are several acts in place that offer protections against deceptive practices such as the consumer protection act and the real estate act. Saskatchewan even has a farm lease act which Manitoba does not. Under the Real Estate Act, if a realtor lied about an offer to induce a higher bid, that realtor would be subject to several sanctions not limited to fraud charges, fines, loss of license. There is nothing in place to stop greedy and unscrupulous landlords from abusing farmers knowing that farmers have inputs that cost many thousands in order to increase their yields.

We are hoping to meet with our agriculture minister after this is all over and discuss a potential farm lease act for Manitoba farmers. We have already been in touch with their office. The more farmland in Canada that is purchased by investors, the greater risk posed to farmers of things like this happening with no protections in place similar to the Real Estate Act.

If you can assist with any amount, it would be greatly appreciated!!

God Bless