Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

J.O. Michel Maisonneuve, CMM, is a former Canadian Army officer who has served as the Assistant Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff of Canada and Chief of Staff of NATO's Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk. He is also the 30th recipient of the

Vimy Award The Vimy Award is an award presented by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDA Institute) to the "Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the defence and security of Canada and the preservation of (its) dem ...

Education

Maisonneuve obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1976 and later he graduated with a Masters in Management and Defence Policy from the Royal Military College of Canada.

Military career

Maisonneuve joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 1972 as an armoured officer and after graduating from Royal Military College of Canada, he would be a part of

12e Régiment blindé du Canada The 12e Régiment blindé du Canada (a translation of its former name, the "12th Canadian Armoured Regiment") is a Canadian Army armoured regiment based in CFB Valcartier, on the outskirts of Quebec City. The regiment has both a Regular Force and ...

out of

Valcartier Canadian Forces Base Valcartier (CFB Valcartier), now re-designated 2 Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier (2 CDSB Valcartier), is a Canadian Forces base located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, north northwest of Quebec ...

. He would be deployed to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus and later the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

and Kosovo War. During his time in Kosovo he was assigned to Headquarters of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as a Brigadier-General from November 1998 to May 1999 where he would later be awarded a Meritorious Service Cross for his service. He would later serve as Assistant Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff of Canada and Chief of Staff of NATO's Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk. In 2007 he would retire from the CAF and became the Academic Director at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean.

Honours and decorations

National Awards/Decorations * ** Commander of the Order of Military Merit ** Meritorious Service Cross ** Canadian Forces' Decoration * **

Officer of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* ** Officer of the U.S. Legion of Merit Other Awards * 30th recipient of the

Controversy

On November 9, 2022, Maisonneuve delivered an acceptance speech for the Vimy Award at a gala hosted by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute. The speech was broadly critical of many progressive aspects of society and the direction of Canada's military. In subsequent reporting, Youri Cormier, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations and CDA Institute noted that "many attendees were offended by LGen (ret’d) Maisonneuve’s speech. His remarks do not reflect those of the CDA Institute." The speech was also publicly criticized by the Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand, and the Canadian Armed Forces' Chief, Professional Conduct and Culture (CPCC). However, he was invited to speak as a keynote speaker by the Conservative Party of Canada at their policy convention on 7 September 2023 and once again received applause from delegates after endorsing Pierre Poilievre at said speech.

Legacy

The Maisonneuve Bursaries and Shield Award at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean is named in his honour; it is awarded to the two 1st year Officer Cadets with the highest academic averages in Social Sciences and

Sciences Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maisonneuve, J.O. Michel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Royal Military College of Canada alumni Academic staff of the Royal Military College of Canada