Out of the Shadows:
The Civil Law Tradition in the Department of Justice Canada, 1868–2000

• [ Previous Page |
• Table of Contents |
• Next Page ]

---

The Upheavals of the 1960s

The upheavals of the 1960s profoundly affected the Department of Justice, including the Civil Law Section. The first blow to the Section was Guy Favreau’s departure in July 1960. The Assistant Deputy Minister had received an offer he could not refuse from a large law firm, and as someone who loved the practice of law, he wanted to return to private legal work in Montréal.¹⁷ However, those who had regular dealings with him believe that he left the Department because he was unable to have the position he wanted, namely Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada. Some people think that, in spite of his great abilities and reputation, Favreau was denied the highest legal position in the land because of his training in civil law.^f At the Department of Justice at the time, it was assumed that a civil law specialist would be unable to deal with legal issues arising in the common law provinces. In addition, it was asked, how would he be able to supervise the work of lawyers with common law training? ¹⁸ It seemed to be forgotten that, more than 75 years previously, Augustus Power, also a civilian by training, had acted as Deputy Minister on several occasions, and that the Department of Justice had not been any the worse for it.^g In spite of this historical precedent, another fifteen years were to pass before a person with a civil law background would be appointed Deputy Minister.

However, a few months before Favreau’s departure, the Department made an effort to recognize the existence of civil law by finding a place for it in the upper ranks of its staff. On March 9, 1960, section 3 of the Department of Justice Act was amended to specify the number of Associate Deputy Ministers.^h In the House of Commons, the Minister of Justice, Edmund Davie Fulton, explained that a constant increase in the amount of work and the growing complexity of the cases warranted the appointment of two Associate Deputy Ministers. The idea of creating two such positions had emerged several years earlier, when the Liberals were in power. In the spring of 1957, Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent was supposed to ask Parliament to approve the creation ofthese positions, but his party was defeated in the elections. This delayed the tabling of this legislative amendment. Deputy Minister Varcoe, who was about to be replaced by W. R. Jackett, had then suggested that E. A. Driedger and Favreau be appointed to these positions, and it was expected that Favreau would become familiar with all aspects of the Department, so that he could act as Deputy Minister if Jackett had to be absent.ⁱ, ¹⁹ Three years later, the House adopted, without opposition, the bill tabled by the Diefenbaker government.

However, there was nothing in the amendment to indicate that one of the positions of Associate Deputy Minister had to be given to a civil law specialist responsible for civil law and for federal law issues in Quebec. Rather, the appointment of the first Associate Deputy Minister (Civil Law) marked the beginning of a tradition that still exists. Nonetheless, a number of people affirm that it was from that moment on that the Department officially recognized the presence of civilian lawyers within its structure, and thereby acknowledged Canadian bijuralism.²⁰ Furthermore, from the moment that the idea had been advanced in 1957, the plan was to appoint the two Assistant Deputy Ministers in place. By 1960, however, it was already too late: Favreau had made his decision to leave the Department.²¹ He handed in his resignation, and the Minister had to appoint another candidate to the position of Associate Deputy Minister (Civil Law).

On November 9, 1960, Rodrigue Bédard, a municipal judge in Hull and a professor at the University of Ottawa, took up his duties as the first Associate Deputy Minister (Civil Law).²² Bédard had trouble asserting his authority, because he was unfamiliar with the workings of the Department, and with the procedures and culture of the environment he had just entered. In addition, some of the people with whom he was working saw his appointment by the Conservatives as the outcome of a political manoeuvre, and this did not ease Bédard’s relations with the managers in place. However, as a distinguished jurist with a strong sense of duty, he did his best to continue the work of his predecessor.²³

In Bédard’s time, recruiting was initially done through the Civil Service Commission, which published notices of competitions (in law faculties, with the Quebec Bar and in the newspapers), and received applications. The Associate Deputy Minister then went to Montréal or Québec City to meet the candidates, accompanied by a representative of the Commission. Sometimes, these candidates were asked to take a written examination, and had to answer some questions in English. They thus had to be bilingual in principle, but they did not have to have a perfect mastery of English. It was expected that in time and with greater experience, they would inevitably acquire a good knowledge of English.²⁴

New faces then appeared in the Civil Law Section. Some of the new arrivals had already been working for the Department of Justice. The first newcomer was Gaspard Côté in 1962, who had been working in the Criminal Section since 1957. He quickly became a close and trusted collaborator of his new director, Paul Ollivier. During his time in the Criminal Section, Côté participated, as lawyer for the Department of Justice, in the work of the Brossard Commission of Inquiry into the Coffin case and in the work of the Dorion Commission on the Rivard case (which resulted in the resignation of Favreau as Minister of Justice in 1965).²⁵

Rodrigue Bédard

Joseph Georges Rodrigue Bédard was born in Hull, Quebec, on June 9, 1907. He studied at the University of Ottawa, where he obtained a bachelor of arts degree and a licentiate in philosophy in 1927. He obtained his licentiate in law from the Université de Montréal in 1933, and was called to the Quebec Bar in July of the same year. He then practised his profession in Hull, where he was also Recorder, then a municipal judge (1938–1960). In addition to practising law, Bédard was very active in teaching. He served as academic dean at the University of Ottawa law school (1954–1960), and as professor of civil procedure from 1953 to 1970. A Queen’s Counsel since 1945, he joined the Department of Justice as Associate Deputy Minister in November 1960. Ten years later, he left this position to become a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec. Mr. Justice Bédard died in Montréal on March 10, 1978.²⁶

When Côté asked to be transferred to the Civil Law Section, Maurice Charbonneau (now with the National Parole Board) soon followed the man who had been his mentor in the Criminal Section for the previous three years. Guy Favreau had recruited Charbonneau in 1960, during a train trip between Québec City and Toronto. Noticing the law book he was reading, Favreau asked him if he would be interested in a career at the Department of Justice, in Ottawa. After thinking about this offer, Charbonneau agreed to take an examination “which did not commit him to anything” at the Court House in Québec City. Two months later, he received a call from Favreau’s secretary, who told him that the Assistant Deputy Minister wanted to meet him. He was then offered a position on the criminal law team.²⁷

In October 1963, Paul Coderre joined the Department of Justice, after pleading a case in which he had opposed Paul Ollivier. The two men were both natives of Ottawa. Coderre was practising law in Chicoutimi when Ollivier asked him if he wanted to return to the national capital. Coderre started his career at the Department of Health, but a few months later, he was called upon to replace Rolland Boudreau at Justice Headquarters.²⁸ Boudreau had left the Department after three months as head of Minister Lionel Chevrier’s office to accept a position at the head office of Canadian National, in Montréal. He continued to work for this company until his retirement in September 1993 as Vice-President of Legal Affairs.²⁹

In 1965, the Department of Justice hired its first notary on a permanent basis. Up to that point, most matters involving real estate law had been entrusted to outside notaries. The Civil Law Section could count on the services of Merry Del Val (“Val”) Richard, a clerk who had acquired a vast experience in handling property titles through his fifteen years in the business (he was nicknamed “Mr. Notary”). However, Richard did not have a degree in notarial studies. Assisted by Annette Laflèche, Richard was responsible forcontacting the notaries retained by the Department, for examining notarial deeds and for submitting them to the director of the Section for approval. A twenty-year employee of the Department (he had originally been the secretary of Roméo Gibeault), Richard had been involved in show business in the 1920s. A tap dancer, violinist, singer and actor, he had played in Broadway theatres, and enjoyed recounting his adventures to his colleagues.³⁰

---

^f It may be possible that Guy Favreau’s civil law training was detrimental to him. For his part, however, Paul Ollivier insists that he did not personally experience any such prejudice in his direction during his 29 years at the Department of Justice. His civil law training did not prevent Ollivier from moving up through the ranks to the position of Associate Deputy Minister (Civil Law). Conversation with Paul Ollivier (March 28, 2000), Hull.

^g In fact, Favreau’s training was only a pretext, since the Deputy Minister does not give legal opinions on his own. He is surrounded by a team of people who advise him on fields with which he is less familiar. A Deputy Minister, even if he has common-law training, cannot know everything. Furthermore, at this time, even though the Deputy Minister signed nearly all the opinions issued by the Department of Justice, these opinions were often written by legal counsel. The Deputy Minister then examined them, and could make changes before signing them. Interview with Roger Tassé (December 16, 1999), Cassette No. 3, Side A; conversation with Alban Garon (April 3, 2000), Ottawa.

^h Associate Deputy Ministers are chosen by the Cabinet and are entitled to certain privileges, while Assistant Deputy Ministers (and Assistant Deputy Attorneys General) are public servants appointed by the Public Service Commission. Interviews with Anne-Marie Trahan (January 4, 2000), Cassette No. 3, Side B, and with Alban Garon (January 18, 2000), Cassette No. 9, Side 2.

ⁱ Someone went even so far as to suggest that the Department should appoint a second full Deputy Minister with a civilian background, who would be responsible for civil law issues. Varcoe quickly rejected the idea, explaining that the work of these two individuals would be unequal, because of the lesser number of cases requiring the intervention of a civil law specialist. He also found it inconceivable that a Deputy Minister with civilian training could supervise common law lawyers, and vice versa. Finally, he thought that it would be too complicated to have the legal counsel in the same section reporting to different authorities, depending on their training. See Department of Justice (DJ), Administrative Records, File 225-3, Volume 1, General Administration, Organization – General, Department of Justice, memorandum of F. P. Varcoe to the Minister of Justice, March 22, 1957, pp. 1-2.

---

• [ Previous Page |
• Table of Contents |
• Next Page ]