Fictions depicting life in the Canadian Armed Forces are rather rare in Quebec. A captivating series, set on a military base that trains members of a top-secret commando, is airing at prime time. Have a little herbal tea before watching, because it’s intense.
The series The weapons will be broadcast on TVA starting Monday, September 9 at 8 p.m. This shocking work will face another big gun, presented on ICI Télé, the highly anticipated Dumasby Luc Dionne, which takes place in the world of private investigators. Both series are produced by Aetios, the company of Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau, of which Quebecor has just acquired a minority share.
Although general television has been declining for years, the major networks are competing to attract audiences to one of the most popular slots, Monday evening.
The weapons takes us to the fictional Kanawata base, nicknamed “the gates of hell.” A tragedy strikes the elite JTF16 unit, tasked with preventing Russia from establishing a secret nuclear base in the Canadian Arctic. A soldier dies during training, another is detained for murder. Things are going badly.
Officer Louis-Philippe Savard (Vincent-Guillaume Otis) is called to the rescue to restore order among the troops. He clashes with his illustrious predecessor, Allan Craig (François Papineau), who has ruled the base with an iron fist for years. This dark character has created a network of influence within his troops, who sow terror among the recruits under the pretext of training the “best infantry soldiers” in the country.
“We’re going to push you to your limits. We’ve seen some fresh ones shit on all fours with their noses in their vomit,” an officer tells his soldiers. “This is not the time to look weak, with Russia raising its voice against Canada.”
The sequel will be like the news of the last decades: the military institution will try by all means to cover up the violent death of a soldier, while the rising generation of officers will work to ensure that justice is done.
Culture change
Colonel Craig’s harsh methods of intimidation, violence and an obsession with secrecy have long plagued the Canadian Forces and elsewhere, but military culture is gradually changing, explains the series’ author, Pierre-Marc Drouin (In Memoriam, Reasonable doubt).
“It’s been done before. Up until the early 2000s, that’s how recruits were trained,” he explained on the sidelines of a press screening of the first two episodes of the series on Monday. A series of scandals, particularly sexual ones, has changed attitudes within the Canadian Forces.
Pierre-Marc Drouin wanted to make a fictional series, certainly, but realistic. Military affairs consultants, whom the production refuses to name, accompanied the film crew at all stages of creation.
“We were sometimes told: ‘You don’t have it at all!'” says director Jean-Philippe Duval with a smile (Reasonable doubt, With beating heart, Unit 9).
He and his team spent eight months preparing to faithfully reflect the reality of the Canadian military. They notably visited the bases of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Valcartier, where they met soldiers and officers. A real elite squad of the Canadian Forces, named JTF2, inspired the creators of the series.
Fragile sovereignty
It was quite a challenge to tackle such a delicate subject for Quebec artists who know little about National Defence. “We don’t have a military tradition here, we voted twice against conscription,” recalls Fabienne Larouche.
In English Canada, veterans get their coffee paid for at Tim Hortons, but that’s far from the case here, says Pierre-Marc Drouin. He and the other members of the team admit that the series has changed their perception of soldiers, whom they now consider “heroes.”
The series reflects the geopolitical reality of the moment: Russia and China are indeed eyeing the Canadian Far North, which contains precious metals, oil and natural gas. Global warming, which is melting the ice, will make this distant territory accessible.
National Defence must prepare to protect Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic. The Americans may not always be there to repel foreign powers: Donald Trump recently said he would let Russia invade NATO countries, like Canada, that spend less than 2% of their GDP on defense.