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to those elsewhere, particularly those in emerging markets. "Russians are savvy businessmen," says Desjardins. "Just look at the oil- oligarchs and the way they've structured their very powerful companies. Just be- cause you have to spend a lot of time in Russia doing your due diligence, do not assume your Russian counterparts are not as savvy as you. They are. They know how to do business." Russians also know how to live in a cold northern climate. They understand the challenges and tricks of tying a vast swath of ice-bound geography together with roads, remote airports, and conti- nental communications links. They chain- saw, mine, and pump the same natural resources from their land as Canada does, and they share Canada's love of hockey. Despite all the political differences and cultural obstacles of history and language, there are also stark similarities that tend to ease business arrangements with Canadi- ans in Russia. "Canada has not and continues not be so much more co-operation." Drager remembers working in Rus- sia, trying to break a difficult negotiation deadlock between a Canadian client and a group of Russian executives discussing a possible deal, when he noticed a table hockey game sitting in a corner of the room. "I found this table hockey game and put it between the two heads of each delegation," he recalls. "By golly, they both started to play, and both the negotiating teams starting cheering their sides. That really broke the ice between the two sides and got things moving." O'Rourke says Russia seemed an right now to focus on the opportunities we have and the similarities we have, for our companies to work in Russia," says Drager. "I'm talking about everything from avia- tion to cold-weather technologies to ag- riculture — not to mention the Arctic. There's so many areas where there could "alien" place when he first began work- ing there as a foreign lawyer in the 1980s, but he quickly became fond of Russia and the uniquely interesting challenges it pre- sented in his career. "I enjoyed Russia," he says. "It was intimidating at first. We had our difficulties there — but you can have problems all around the world — and at the end of the day I met some very good people there, and it made being a lawyer for me much more interesting." IH Employment and Labour Lawyers Experience Counts. Referrals respected and appreciated. Shields O'Donnell MacKillop LLP 416.304.6400 65 Queen Street W, Suite 1800, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5H 2M5 Shields_IH_Apr_11.indd 1 INHOUSE APRIL 2012 • 3/1/11 10:04:56 AM 25

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