Jonathan Vance
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General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Jonathan Holbert Vance (born January 3, 1964) is a retired
Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...
officer who served as a
general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
in the
Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...
. Vance was the chief of the Defence Staff from 2015 to 2021. In July 2021, Vance was charged with one count of obstruction of justice, in relation to investigations of sexual misconduct. Prior to this charge, he boasted that he was "untouchable" by military police due to his high rank. On March 30, 2022, Vance pleaded guilty to the charge of obstruction of justice, and subsequently received a
conditional discharge A discharge is a type of sentence imposed by a court whereby no punishment is imposed. An absolute discharge is an unconditional discharge whereby the court finds that a crime has technically been committed but that any punishment of the defend ...
.


Early life, education and family

Vance was born on January 3, 1964, in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...
. At the age of 13, while his father
Jack Vance John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names. ...
—a Canadian Forces officer—was posted in Lahr, Germany, he joined the Army Cadets. His father Jack Vance went on to the rank of lieutenant-general, and served as the vice chief of Defence Staff in 1985. Vance himself went on to join the Canadian Forces in 1982, attending the
Royal Roads Military College Royal Roads Military College (RRMC) was a Canadian military college from 1940 to 1995, located in Hatley Park, Colwood, British Columbia, near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The facility now serves as the campus of Royal Roads University, a ...
where he obtained a bachelor of arts (BA) in military and strategic studies in 1986. He also holds a master of arts (MA) degree in war studies from the
Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...
. Vance is married to Kerry Vance (née Wheelehan), a now-retired
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
colonel in the
Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called jud ...
. The couple met when they were both serving in a NATO posting in Naples, Italy.


Military career

Upon graduation in 1986, Vance was commissioned in the Canadian Forces as an infantry officer with The Royal Canadian Regiment. His father, Jack, was serving as the vice chief of the Defence Staff when he was commissioned. He served as deputy commander of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples, and commander of the Canadian Task Force in
Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
in 2009 and 2010. He went on to be commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command in September 2014.


Chief of the Defence Staff

On April 27, 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Vance had been selected as the new chief of the Defence Staff. He formally succeeded General Thomas J. Lawson in the role following a transfer of command ceremony held on July 17, 2015.


Retirement

On July 23, 2020, Vance announced his intention to retire as chief of Defence Staff after five years in office, serving until his replacement would be named. Despite being a potential candidate for an upcoming vacancy as
chairman of the NATO Military Committee The Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on military policy and strategy. The CMC is the senior military spokesperson of the 30-nation alliance and p ...
, the federal government announced its intention not to pursue the competition. On December 23, 2020, Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
announced that Vance would be succeeded by Vice Admiral Art McDonald as Chief of the Defence Staff, with the change of command held on January 14, 2021.


Misconduct allegations and guilty plea

Shortly following his retirement, a report emerged detailing inappropriate behaviour from Vance towards two female subordinates, possibly violating "directives that govern personal relationships and such actions might contravene provisions in the National Defence Act (NDA) that relate to good order and discipline." Following the allegations, an investigation into Vance's conduct was launched by the
Canadian Forces National Investigation Service The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) is the investigative arm of the Canadian Forces Military Police. The CFNIS is an independent military police unit that provides an independent investigative capability for the purpose of ...
, a unit of the
Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
. Additionally, the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
defence committee voted to study the matter, and the Department of National Defence committed to an external probe into Vance, which has since expanded to "also deal with rising concerns that the issue of sexual misconduct by the senior ranks could be a systemic issue in the Canadian Armed Forces". On July 15, 2021, Vance was formally charged with obstruction of justice under Section 139 of the ''Criminal Code''. The indictment focuses on allegations made by Major Kellie Brennan that he instructed her to lie when being interviewed by military police investigating charges against him. Vance was reportedly engaged in a 20-year relationship with Brennan, concurrent with his seniority over her in the military chain of command, and fathered two of her eight children. Brennan says that Vance told her that he was "untouchable" and that he "owned" the military police. No charges were laid against Vance under the military justice system, following a review of the law by
Morris Fish Morris Jacob Fish, (born November 16, 1938) was a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada from 2003 to 2013. Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Aaron S. Fish and Zlata Grober, he received a Bachelor of Arts (with distinction) in 1959 and a Bach ...
, retired justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Fish concluded that given Vance's high rank, it would not be possible to empanel a military jury, which must be composed of officers of equal or higher rank. On March 30, 2022, Vance pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice in the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa. As a result of the guilty plea, he was given a
conditional discharge A discharge is a type of sentence imposed by a court whereby no punishment is imposed. An absolute discharge is an unconditional discharge whereby the court finds that a crime has technically been committed but that any punishment of the defend ...
with 80 hours of community service and 12 months of probation. Vance's criminal defence lawyer, Rodney Sellar, also confirmed that due to the turn of events, Vance started to pay child support to Major Kellie Brennan. Furthermore, Sellar emphasized that Vance's reputation and finances have suffered immensely as a consequence of the criminal charge and subsequent guilty plea. Nevertheless, due to the conditional discharge, although a finding of guilt was made, Vance was not convicted and he will not have a criminal record 3 years after the completion of his 12 month probationary period. In May 2022, Vance was expelled from the alumni association of the Royal Military College of Canada over his guilty plea.


Awards and decorations

Vance has received the following orders and decorations during his military career:
* Vance was a qualified
Paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...
and as such wore the Canadian Forces Jump Wings with Red
Maple Leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along th ...
. * By virtue of his position, he served as an aide-de-camp to the
governor general of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
, and as such he wore the gold
aiguillette An aiguillette (, from '' aiguille'', "needle"), also spelled , or , is a cord with metal tips or lace tags, or the decorative tip itself. Functional or purely decorative fasteners of silk cord with metal tips were popular in the 16th and e ...
to denote this position. * At his request, Vance's appointment to the Order of Military Merit in the grade of Commander was terminated effective April 20, 2022 by the
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
Mary Simon Mary Jeannie May Simon (in Inuktitut syllabics: ᒥᐊᓕ ᓴᐃᒪᓐ, iu, script=Latn, Ningiukudluk; born August 21, 1947) is a Canadian civil servant, diplomat, and former broadcaster who has served as the 30th governor general of Canada ...
. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order in 2010 and upgraded to Commander in 2015.


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vance, Jonathan 1964 births Living people Canadian generals Royal Military College of Canada alumni Canadian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Canada) Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania People from Hastings County The Royal Canadian Regiment officers Canadian military personnel from Ontario People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour