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http://www.thehilltimes.ca/html/index.php
If there's any sort of war for popularity between Chief of Defence Rick Hillier and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, O'Connor is sure to lose, say critics.
By Simon Doyle
On May 30, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor stood beside the most powerful figure in the Defence Department, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Rick Hillier, and told the media that Mr. Hillier did not follow his orders.
To many defence observers, it was a stunning and bold display on Mr. O'Connor's behalf to stand up publicly to the most popular and influential chiefs of the defence staff in recent memory.
At the news conference, held at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, Mr. O'Connor and Gen. Hillier appeared before the press about an hour before the parents of a fallen soldier, Cpl. Matthew Dinning, held a news conference to say that they had not been adequately compensated for funeral expenses.
Mr. O'Connor assured the press that he was working to ensure that funeral expenses are covered, and that some time ago he had directed to his department that this be taken care of. Somehow, due to what appears to be an administrative "anomaly," it was not, and with Mr. Hillier beside him, Mr. O'Connor said, "My direction was not followed." Mr. Hillier also faced the cameras and told reporters, "The responsibility to support the families begins and ends with me."
"The chief of defence staff was definitely being chastised by the Defence Minister," Dawn Black (New Westminster-Coquitlam, B.C.), the NDP defence critic, told The Hill Times last week. "It was an uncomfortable moment for everyone involved. He was trying to say that he was the boss."
Over the last year-and-a-half, however, there appear to have been at least a few instances in which Mr. O'Connor (Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Ont.) has attempted to show he is the boss. The relationship has been less than perfectly smooth, and Mr. O'Connor's struggle to make a footprint of authority seems to come with the territory. He's running one of the most powerful bureaucracies in the government with one of the most powerful and influential bureaucrats, Gen. Hillier, at its helm.
Speculation and rumours are circulating that Mr. O'Connor's time as Defence Minister is running short. He's made several slips of his own, especially related to the controversy surrounding the humane treatment of Canadian-captured detainees in Afghanistan, and at the news conference on May 30, he seemed to want to make a special effort to show that he was not going to also wear the slip-up surrounding compensation for soldiers' funerals.
Scott Taylor, editor-in-chief of Esprit de Corps, a magazine covering the Canadian military, told The Hill Times last week that Mr. O'Connor's public criticism of Gen. Hillier was certainly bold–if not dangerous.
"It's a slap in the face, but you don't suddenly go up and out of the blue and slap King Kong," he said. "I think in the meantime O'Connor maybe hasn't realized just how big Baby Hugo grew in the backyard."
To Mr. Taylor, however, Mr. O'Connor's problems are nothing new. He's seen many a defence minister tossed from the portfolio, he said, and if there is any sort of war for popularity between Gen. Hillier and Mr. O'Connor, Mr. O'Connor is sure to lose, simply because of Gen. Hillier's political smarts, charm, and deep personal investment in the war in Afghanistan.
"I think we've seen indications that O'Connor is smart enough to know he's being stonewalled, but, believe me, in the Defence Minister's Office, it's like riding one of those bucking broncos in a bar. You don't know which way it's going to turn next. We here at Esprit de Corps have seen so many people thrown off that horse in the last 20 years it's not funny. Nobody survives," he said.
"Whether it's a scandal like Somalia, whatever, things tend to eat them up. Eventually they create enough political heat that someone has to go. Generals have been chewed up as well, no question. But in this case, internally it would be suicide to take Hillier out. Unless you can bring in, well, I don't know if Chuck Norris is unemployed right now."
In an April 2006 story, confirmed by anonymous Defence Department officials, The Globe and Mail reported that Mr. Hillier's speeches had to be vetted by the government, an issue that surely did not impress the general.
The same month, Gen. Hillier and Mr. O'Connor disagreed over the purchase of aircraft for the Canadian Forces. Gen. Hillier wanted the purchase of short-haul tactical transport planes, as proposed under the previous Liberal government, but the Conservative government proposed long-range military transport planes. After Mr. O'Connor denied rumours of a rift between himself and Gen. Hillier over the matter, the government's $8.1-billion military aircraft procurement package, announced the following June, included both strategic and tactical-lift planes.
"We are the government and we set the policy," Mr. O'Connor told reporters in May. "The military and the public servants follow our policies."
The Canadian Press also reported last October that military commanders were frustrated with the government's failure to adequately explain and defend the mission in Afghanistan. Senior government officials held a meeting with Gen. Hillier the previous month to discuss the matter, the report said. Gen. Hillier was reported to have said that critics of the war had an "open field" to "degrade public support for the mission."
Conservative MP Laurie Hawn, however, a member of the House National Defence Committee, said he believes the relationship between the two is working fine.
"I think that Gen. Hillier and Minister O'Connor get along very well. They've both got serious jobs to do and they're both very tough jobs," Mr. Hawn said last week. "It's not an easy job to do and frankly they're both doing it very well."
Mr. Taylor said that traditionally, when there is a new defence minister, the department spends months taking the minister on special trips to meet soldiers, take a flight in an F-18, and partake in other orientation outings.
By the time the minister gets a feel for the job, however, the minister realizes he or she has not taken an active role in running the department. Six months have elapsed and "they've signed an awful lot of damaging documents," Mr. Taylor said.
Mr. Taylor said that Mr. O'Connor, a former soldier, approached the job differently, however. He immediately assumed more authority, partly because he knew the territory. "He knows how they think," Mr. Taylor said. "O'Connor walked in and he said, 'No.' He didn't go for an F-18 ride."
Ms. Black said that although tension between the minister and the Defence Department is a normal component of civilian oversight of the military, Gen. Hillier and Mr. O'Connor have tended to have a little more friction than she would normally expect.
For all of Mr. O'Connor's authority, however, she said she expects Gen. Hillier to be in the halls of power for a much longer period than his boss, Mr. O'Connor. Of Gen. Hillier, she said: "He's a very good politician."
[email protected]
The Hill Times
Seems the power paradigm has shifted. Thoughts
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/html/index.php
If there's any sort of war for popularity between Chief of Defence Rick Hillier and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, O'Connor is sure to lose, say critics.
By Simon Doyle
On May 30, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor stood beside the most powerful figure in the Defence Department, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Rick Hillier, and told the media that Mr. Hillier did not follow his orders.
To many defence observers, it was a stunning and bold display on Mr. O'Connor's behalf to stand up publicly to the most popular and influential chiefs of the defence staff in recent memory.
At the news conference, held at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, Mr. O'Connor and Gen. Hillier appeared before the press about an hour before the parents of a fallen soldier, Cpl. Matthew Dinning, held a news conference to say that they had not been adequately compensated for funeral expenses.
Mr. O'Connor assured the press that he was working to ensure that funeral expenses are covered, and that some time ago he had directed to his department that this be taken care of. Somehow, due to what appears to be an administrative "anomaly," it was not, and with Mr. Hillier beside him, Mr. O'Connor said, "My direction was not followed." Mr. Hillier also faced the cameras and told reporters, "The responsibility to support the families begins and ends with me."
"The chief of defence staff was definitely being chastised by the Defence Minister," Dawn Black (New Westminster-Coquitlam, B.C.), the NDP defence critic, told The Hill Times last week. "It was an uncomfortable moment for everyone involved. He was trying to say that he was the boss."
Over the last year-and-a-half, however, there appear to have been at least a few instances in which Mr. O'Connor (Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Ont.) has attempted to show he is the boss. The relationship has been less than perfectly smooth, and Mr. O'Connor's struggle to make a footprint of authority seems to come with the territory. He's running one of the most powerful bureaucracies in the government with one of the most powerful and influential bureaucrats, Gen. Hillier, at its helm.
Speculation and rumours are circulating that Mr. O'Connor's time as Defence Minister is running short. He's made several slips of his own, especially related to the controversy surrounding the humane treatment of Canadian-captured detainees in Afghanistan, and at the news conference on May 30, he seemed to want to make a special effort to show that he was not going to also wear the slip-up surrounding compensation for soldiers' funerals.
Scott Taylor, editor-in-chief of Esprit de Corps, a magazine covering the Canadian military, told The Hill Times last week that Mr. O'Connor's public criticism of Gen. Hillier was certainly bold–if not dangerous.
"It's a slap in the face, but you don't suddenly go up and out of the blue and slap King Kong," he said. "I think in the meantime O'Connor maybe hasn't realized just how big Baby Hugo grew in the backyard."
To Mr. Taylor, however, Mr. O'Connor's problems are nothing new. He's seen many a defence minister tossed from the portfolio, he said, and if there is any sort of war for popularity between Gen. Hillier and Mr. O'Connor, Mr. O'Connor is sure to lose, simply because of Gen. Hillier's political smarts, charm, and deep personal investment in the war in Afghanistan.
"I think we've seen indications that O'Connor is smart enough to know he's being stonewalled, but, believe me, in the Defence Minister's Office, it's like riding one of those bucking broncos in a bar. You don't know which way it's going to turn next. We here at Esprit de Corps have seen so many people thrown off that horse in the last 20 years it's not funny. Nobody survives," he said.
"Whether it's a scandal like Somalia, whatever, things tend to eat them up. Eventually they create enough political heat that someone has to go. Generals have been chewed up as well, no question. But in this case, internally it would be suicide to take Hillier out. Unless you can bring in, well, I don't know if Chuck Norris is unemployed right now."
In an April 2006 story, confirmed by anonymous Defence Department officials, The Globe and Mail reported that Mr. Hillier's speeches had to be vetted by the government, an issue that surely did not impress the general.
The same month, Gen. Hillier and Mr. O'Connor disagreed over the purchase of aircraft for the Canadian Forces. Gen. Hillier wanted the purchase of short-haul tactical transport planes, as proposed under the previous Liberal government, but the Conservative government proposed long-range military transport planes. After Mr. O'Connor denied rumours of a rift between himself and Gen. Hillier over the matter, the government's $8.1-billion military aircraft procurement package, announced the following June, included both strategic and tactical-lift planes.
"We are the government and we set the policy," Mr. O'Connor told reporters in May. "The military and the public servants follow our policies."
The Canadian Press also reported last October that military commanders were frustrated with the government's failure to adequately explain and defend the mission in Afghanistan. Senior government officials held a meeting with Gen. Hillier the previous month to discuss the matter, the report said. Gen. Hillier was reported to have said that critics of the war had an "open field" to "degrade public support for the mission."
Conservative MP Laurie Hawn, however, a member of the House National Defence Committee, said he believes the relationship between the two is working fine.
"I think that Gen. Hillier and Minister O'Connor get along very well. They've both got serious jobs to do and they're both very tough jobs," Mr. Hawn said last week. "It's not an easy job to do and frankly they're both doing it very well."
Mr. Taylor said that traditionally, when there is a new defence minister, the department spends months taking the minister on special trips to meet soldiers, take a flight in an F-18, and partake in other orientation outings.
By the time the minister gets a feel for the job, however, the minister realizes he or she has not taken an active role in running the department. Six months have elapsed and "they've signed an awful lot of damaging documents," Mr. Taylor said.
Mr. Taylor said that Mr. O'Connor, a former soldier, approached the job differently, however. He immediately assumed more authority, partly because he knew the territory. "He knows how they think," Mr. Taylor said. "O'Connor walked in and he said, 'No.' He didn't go for an F-18 ride."
Ms. Black said that although tension between the minister and the Defence Department is a normal component of civilian oversight of the military, Gen. Hillier and Mr. O'Connor have tended to have a little more friction than she would normally expect.
For all of Mr. O'Connor's authority, however, she said she expects Gen. Hillier to be in the halls of power for a much longer period than his boss, Mr. O'Connor. Of Gen. Hillier, she said: "He's a very good politician."
[email protected]
The Hill Times
Seems the power paradigm has shifted. Thoughts
