Vance a lead for defence chief job

Held key roles in Iraq war, Afghanistan

• Lt.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, who has emerged as the front-runner to be Canada’s next top military commander, has experience as a combat veteran and a reputation as a team player.

Both attributes make him attractive to the Conservative government in the midst of a war in Iraq and Syria.

Lt.-Gen. Vance is head of the Canadian Joint Operations Command and has been one of the key officials involved in directing Canada’s role in the Iraq war, a mission that has now expanded to Syria. He also served in key command positions during Canada’s war in Afghanistan, formulating strategy used by Canadian troops in Kandahar.

The lieutenant-general recently met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, fuelling speculation he is on the cusp of being selected as the country’s next chief of the defence staff, or CDS.

Lt.-Gen. Marquis Hainse, the commander of the army, and Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, who heads the navy, are also being considered for the job.

Lt.- Gen. Vance’s candidacy has been helped by the decision of another combat veteran, Lt.-Gen. Mike Day, to withdraw from consideration for the CDS job, military sources say.

Lt.-Gen. Day, deputy commander of Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, and a former special forces soldier, has both operational experience and the political savvy to be a strong contender for the position. He has, instead, decided to retire this year.

The successful candidate will take over from the current chief of the defence staff, Gen. Tom Lawson, sometime in the summer. Gen. Lawson informed the government in March that he would be stepping down in the fall rather than renew his term.

Sources say Gen. Lawson is not being forced out: he is leaving because he is tired of the job and having to deal with ongoing cuts to the Canadian military. Even tougher decisions loom, and the general feels it is time for someone new to take on the role, according to sources.

Gen. Lawson, a former fighter pilot, took the helm of the Canadian Forces in October 2012.

He has been extremely low-key as CDS and the government has been happy with that quality, and with his performance overall, said defence analyst Martin Shadwick.

Like Gen. Lawson, Lt.-Gen. Vance is viewed inside National Defence headquarters and the Conservative government as a team player.

He was the government’s point man the next year to take over the Afghan mission when another general was relieved of his command amid allegations he had an intimate relationship with a subordinate.

Lt.-Gen. Vance’s appointment would continue the lockout of naval officers from the top military job.

Air force and army officers have held the position since 1997.