A real-life JAG experience in northern Quebec
By Gabriel Granatstein, Special to the Montreal Gazette
This month, I had the opportunity to participate in Canadian Forces exercise Guerrier Nordique 2011 as part of the judge advocate-general (JAG, legal adviser) legal team.
It’s not often that a lawyer from a firm like Ogilvy Renault LLP gets to spend a week up north, in the Cree nation of Wemindji in the James Bay area, living and working with the Forces.
I grew up watching the American TV show JAG. It’s important that I dispel some of the myths propagated by that show: Canadian JAGs generally don’t fly fighter jets, belong to the special forces or rescue kittens from burning buildings while drafting legal opinions. The main characters in the TV show seemed to do all that while wearing inappropriately tight uniforms. For the most part, Canadian JAGs focus on legal work and wear loose-fitting uniforms.
I have the privilege of both working for my firm and serving in the reserves as a captain with the JAG branch. Ogilvy Renault has always supported the Forces and wholeheartedly supported my week-long absence for the exercise. Moreover, they support my part-time service during the year. While not as exciting (or unrealistic) as the TV show, the JAG duties during the exercise were very interesting.
The exercise took place in and around the towns of La Grande, Radisson, Chisasibi and Wedmindji in the James Bay area of northern Quebec. More than 1,500 members of the CF, both regular forces and reservists, took part in the exercise, which for many spanned more than a month. Our legal team – lead by Major Laura D’Urbano and comprised of captains Nadine Dery, Marie-Julie Côté, Maureen Pecknold (a reservist and crown prosecutor for Ontario) and myself – was involved both in the fictitious scenario regarding the exercises and real issues with military members.
With regard to the fictitious scenario, it’s important to know that the Forces have a role in assisting civil authorities upon request. Those duties were recently carried out during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. The Forces must train for those real-life events. The overall training scenario in Guerrier Nordique was focused on simulating an international summit and the related security concerns (think of the recent G8 meeting in Ottawa). The soldiers took part in various domestic-operations training activities, during which they simulated providing security for the summit and conducted search and rescue activities.
JAGs were involved with crafting the legal parameters of the exercise, drafting and teaching rules of engagement and assisting in the drafting of orders. For example, we assisted in advising commanders on how to legally employ their soldiers on Canadian soil and explained the different laws that apply to the Forces in Canada as opposed to on overseas operations. In terms of the "real issues," we advised commanders on a number of things, including what to do if they accidentally damaged civilian property, the liability of the Forces for various things, disciplinary issues with regard to their soldiers, criminal law, contract law, etc.
Our working conditions were austere compared with what a lawyer at a firm like Ogilvy Renault can normally expect. I slept in the field, in a sort of wooden tent covered in tarps and heated by a small wood stove. We had no real bathrooms, showers, running water or other amenities. Our meals consisted of military individual meal packets, heated over Coleman stoves. The temperatures ranged between minus-20 and minus-45 degrees Celsius. It being the army, those of us at the command post were required to shave every day. It can be uncomfortable shaving outside when it’s minus-45 degrees, no matter how long you’ve been in the army.
In short, it was a fascinating experience for me. The vast majority of my time is spent as a labour and employment lawyer at big firm in downtown Montreal. While I love that job, serving as a JAG and participating in the exercise gives me the opportunity to think outside the box, practice different kinds of law, serve my country and get some fresh air.
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to fly a fighter plane … yet.
Gabriel Granatstein, a lawyer at Ogilvy Renault LLP, practices labour and employment law in the province of Quebec. He can be reached at ggranatstein@ogilvyrenault.com.
