Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J u l y 2 0 1 4 11 occasional rodeo rider. But he is shy about calling himself a cowboy. "My neighbours across the river are true cowboys," he says at his ranch near Meadow Lake, Sask. "They put their animals out on the range and brand them the old fashioned way and I have ridden with them. But they make a living from the land. I make a liv- ing from the law." For two decades Gregory practised law exclusively in Calgary, but about 10 years ago he bought the 473-acre River Point Ranch. Now he splits his time and his law business between downtown Calgary and the ranch, a seven-hour drive away. He belongs to both the Alberta and Saskatchewan bars and does "a lot of vir- tual meetings." Gregory's Calgary practice concentrates on construction and corpo- rate law. His rural practice is mostly about real estate, wills, and business. He runs his rural office out of the second floor of a riding arena right on his ranch. On at least one occasion a barrel racing competition was going on in the arena when Canadian Lawyer contacted him. While Gregory is the real thing he is careful not to put the knock on all the would-be cowboys connected to the Stampede. Admittedly, most of the lawyers involved are more comfort- able with a single malt than a saddle. However, there is no doubting the con- nection runs a lot deeper than just white hats and whiskey. Lawyers play a significant role. The Stampede's imme- diate past-president is Michael Casey, a senior partner with Field Law. Like a lot of lawyers in the city, he has been a Stampede volunteer for decades, just like Stampede's current first vice chair- man Bill Gray, another lawyer who's with Miles Davison LLP. While Gregory acknowledges the Stampede has evolved from what was once a country fair and rodeo into a major international event, he insists "it is still a great celebration of the cowboy tradition and a window into the cowboy way." He also likes the friendliness the Stampede seems to generate. "When everybody is dressed up like cowboys the CEO and the copy clerk are equals." Being a cowboy and a lawyer is a rare mixture, but Gregory has yet another unusual passion. In winter he is a competi- tive dog sledder. He doesn't enter the long haul competitions, but prefers sprints. "Four miles in 12 minutes," is the way he explains it. "Yes," Gregory says, tipping his cowboy hat back ever so slightly, "you can call me a musher. I'm proud of that, too." — GeoFF eLLWAND writerlaw@gmail.com law aNd order iN fort SaSkatchewaN T he Fort Saskatchewan Gaol was built in 1914 and like all jails was filled with a dark history of pain, tears, and death. The last remnant of the old jail — a facility shop — was demolished in January despite protests from academic and amateur historians. Diane Yanch, the city's culture and historic precinct supervisor, says, "in the end city council decided it just wasn't worth keeping." She notes there were problems with the building's physical condition and location, "and it was a late addition to the jail being built in or around 1965." Among the old jail's dark memories is the morning of May 2, 1923, when Mary Florence Lassandro, the only woman ever executed in Alberta, was hanged. Her last words just before the trap door was sprung were: "Is there not anyone who has any pity?" The last execution in the province also took place there, with the hanging of multiple murderer 23-year-old Robert Raymond Cook. He died shortly after midnight on Nov. 14, 1960. Now Fort Saskatchewan, about 25 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, is creating an historic precinct which, among other things, traces the community's many links with law and order. The 1937 Warden's House has been preserved, and a façade of the old jail will be erected near where the actual building stood. The historic precinct is also the location of the first North-West Mounted Police detachment in the area — Fort Saskatchewan — which gave the community its name. "Even though we couldn't save the old jail building," Yanch observes, "telling the history of law and order in Fort Saskatchewan is very important to the residents here." She says almost everyone who was alive when the old jail was operating has a story, "something they heard or saw. Even some of the [city] councillors remembered sneaking into the [old jail's] garden and stealing vegetables." Yanch points out that importantly the Warden's Residence remains intact and is now a museum. "We're hoping to have it designated by the end of the year as a municipal historic resource. That means it will be protected for generations." — Ge iN fort photos: courtesy of gLadys comeau

• Cover