Judge drops anchor on naval veteran’s fight to serve past age 60
· Toronto Sun
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OTTAWA — The battle by a 65-year-old naval reservist to stay in uniform has been sunk by a federal judge.
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Naval Reserve Captain Robert Snook of St. John’s, N.L., who reached the military’s compulsory retirement age (CRA) of 60 in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He managed to stay in his role after securing two extensions under existing Department of National Defence (DND) COVID policies — but attempts to secure a third exemption that would’ve let him serve until his 65th birthday last August were rejected by top brass at the Royal Canadian Navy.
Personal vendetta alleged
According to a decision released Tuesday by Federal Court Justice Phuong Ngo, Snook’s decision to take this matter to court was focused mainly on clearing his name — claiming his rejection was centered around a personal dispute between him and his commanding officer.
“He attributes this to an incident between the CO and himself in May 2021, and his subsequent discovery following an ATIP request that his CO had prepared a letter dated January 20, 2021 about a complaint involving him,” read an excerpt from Justice Ngo’s decision.
“The Applicant submits that the CO’s justification to refuse recommending his extension had been wholesale copied in the Final Authority Decision, without any engagement with any evidence that supported or contradicted the CO’s conclusions.”
Snook also argued that ongoing recruitment shortfalls made retaining experienced officers like him a necessity for the RCN.
Delays slammed by court
By the time the case made its way through federal court, the clock had already run out — thanks to DND’s two-and-a-half-year delay to render a ruling on Snook’s request, prompting government lawyers to argue in favour of dismissing the matter, which earned a rebuke in Ngo’s decision.
“The decision-maker cannot delay releasing its decision and then rely on this delay to argue that the matter is moot or the remedy nugatory to escape scrutiny of judicial review,” Ngo wrote.
“Indeed, if the decision had been released earlier, the applicant could also have sought judicial review well before the expiry of the requested CRA date.”
In their decision to reject Snook’s application, RCN brass said that even though Snook “was skilled in certain areas, his skillsets are not unique in the Naval Reserve, his unit or his region.”
Acknowledging Snook’s frustration, Ngo concluded the military’s rules concerning CRA were reasonable.
“I recognize that the Applicant contends that the final authority decision caused him to be released… and that he wished to remain in service,” Ngo wrote, but noted that ultimately, “the final authority decision concluded that there was no exceptional need or operational requirement to extend the Applicant’s service further.”