OTTAWA -- The top official in the Canadian Armed Forces and Canada鈥檚 longest serving Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance, has announced he will be leaving his post 鈥渋n the months to come,鈥� once the government has named his replacement.
In an interview with 麻豆影视, Vance said that 鈥渋t鈥檚 time鈥� for him to go, after making it clear he was interested in being nominated for the role as the next chairman of NATO鈥檚 Military Committee.
鈥淚 made no secret of the fact that鈥� should I be asked to stand as the next chairman of the NATO Military Committee, I would have,鈥� Vance said, adding that if he had been elected, he鈥檇 be leaving, and if he wasn鈥檛 tapped to the international position, he鈥檇 be retiring.
He said that he came in with a strong sense of what he needed to get done and he鈥檚 nearing completion of that list, and that he doesn鈥檛 have any regrets but wishes he knew more about how to embrace a culture change within the institution.
After 39 years in the Forces, Vance, said he has spoken with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Governor General Julie Payette about his decision to leave, which he did not call a retirement in his letter to the Forces, but Trudeau鈥檚 office did.
, Vance, who is 56, said he will continue to serve with 鈥渢he same energy and effort I always have,鈥� in the interim.
Trudeau has thanked Vance for his service to the country, noting he is one of the longest-serving military commanders in Canadian history.
The prime minister has now initiated the recruitment process to name the next top solider to command the Canadian Armed Forces and be in charge of military strategy, plans, and administration.
鈥淕eneral Vance has devoted his life to this country and we thank him for his dedication and leadership,鈥� Trudeau said in a statement.
Asked how important it is to him that his replacement be a woman or person of colour, Vance said that the decision is not up to him, but that the most important factor is to be able to do the job well.
Vance is into his sixth year at the helm, after being appointed by former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2015. He first joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1982, and has served as the Commander of Canadian Joint Operations Command, and as commander of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command.
Over his tenure the Forces have faced a series of challenges, from sexual misconduct within the ranks and the push to recruit more women, to the ongoing push to procure new military jets. He鈥檚 also overseen missions to Mali and Latvia.
Vance said the work to tamp out discrimination and harassment within the military continues.
鈥淲e have to keep our culture alive and well, balancing that it means to be a professional military person, and all that it means to have an institution that Canadians can see themselves in and be proud of. And both of those are critically important, the most important to this institution going forward,鈥� he said.
Vance was also heavily involved in the since-stayed breach of trust case against then-Vice Admiral Mark Norman, and said 鈥渢he toughest decision鈥� he had to make during his tenure was to suspend Norman from his duties when he was charged in March 2018. He called it 鈥減ersonally painful,鈥� and wished none of it happened. Norman retired in 2019 after reaching an agreement with the federal government.
In recent months the Forces have also had to deal with the deaths of its members after six personnel died in a Cyclone helicopter crash during a NATO mission in Europe. One member of the Snowbirds died and another was seriously injured after their plane crashed in B.C. during a flight as part of a cross-country tour designed to boost the spirits of Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to the Forces, Vance said that its members 鈥渉ave been the inspiration for my life,鈥� and that he is 鈥渆xcited at the prospect of a new CDS being appointed to lead the profession of arms in Canada and take you even further.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e still got lots to do, we're in the middle of a pandemic, and we've got lots of operations going on, and the world demands our attention,鈥� he told 麻豆影视, adding that he is 鈥済enuinely excited鈥� to pass the torch.
With files from 麻豆影视鈥� Omar Sachedina
