Jean Boyle

General Joseph Édouard Jean Boyle, CMM, CD (born November 23, 1947) is a former Canadian Chief of Defence Staff. He resigned in disgrace less than a year after his appointment, when it was revealed he was involved in "almost every facet" of the attempt to manage the aftermath of the Somalia Affair, including the alteration of documents released to the media.

Military career

Boyle joined the military in 1967, entering the Royal Military College of Canada as student #8790 and training under Brigadier General William Kirby Lye, whom he characterised as a "crusty old codger". He spent his first year at school in Fort Champlain, sharing a room with Brian D. Pashley, before moving on to spend his next three years living in the Stone Frigate; he participated in varsity football, handball and judo. He graduated with his Honours degree in Economics in 1971. He became Commanding Officer of the 4 Fighter Wing and Base Commander of CFB Baden-Soellingen in 1988.

He returned to the RMC as Commandant in 1991 and served for two years.Royal Military College of Canada
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As a jet fighter pilot, he commanded 1 Canadian Air Division in Germany.

In 1995, he was made a Commander of the Order of Military Merit. As a General, Boyle fought against Canada's participation in the Ottawa Treaty to ban landmines.

Boyle was appointed the Chief of Defence Staff in January 1996, at the relatively young age of 48, being chosen ahead of more senior officers who were expected to be picked for the job.Trueheart, Charles. The Washington Post, "Canada Can't Shake Somali Scandal; New Military Chief Quizzed on Troops' 1993 Torture-Killing", December 29 General Lewis MacKenzie later described Boyle's ascension, noting that he was "obviously out of his depth as hief of Defence Staff. As the Somalian scandal was just beginning to make headlines, some suggested he was appointed specifically in the hopes that he would draw away the majority of public wrath onto himself.

Somalia affair

Boyle was accused of overseeing the release of altered documents to an Access to Information request from CBC reporter Michael McAuliffe. It was later remarked that his error had been "almost ridiculously insignificant", as he had simply tried to evade persistent media questioning by providing altered documents. The military magazine Esprit de Corps labelled him "the spin doctor of the Somalia affair". With nine days of testimony, he was the most vocal witness called before the subsequent inquiry, where he "fought determinedly to defend his reputation and save his job".

While serving at National Defence Headquarters, Boyle supervised the Media Liaison Office and the Somalia Inquiry Liaison Team which was in charge of delivering documents to the military inquiry. He filed a court motion seeking to forbid the inquiry from reaching any findings that would discredit him, but was unsuccessful.

On April 8, 1996, Boyle ordered the military to "stand down all but essential operations" to help conduct a search for files relating to Somalia that had not yet been provided to the Commission. Military planes were grounded, and 99% of staff; including military barbers and chaplains, were asked to go through their files. At the time, the troops referred to the effort as an Easter Egg hunt. The only noted exception was 1,000 peacekeeping troops serving in Bosnia, about whom there were conflicting media reports as to whether they had been forced to stand down for the day to join the hunt. While the move was widely ridiculed by the media, it led to the inexplicable discovery of logbooks belonging to 2^er Commando being found in a locked filing cabinet at CFB Petawawa. On April 15, he arrived at the Commission's office, "tired and haggard", with previously unseen documents which contradicted some of his earlier statements.Desbarats, Peter. "Somalia cover-up: A commissioner's journal", 1997

Around this time, Boyle told Col. Ralph Coleman, Director General of Public Affairs, that he was unhappy with how the media were portraying him. He was granted a $7,500 bursary with which to purchase a teleprompter and seven hours of verbal coaching from a civilian media expert on how to handle himself in front of reporters.

On August 12, 1996, Boyle's first day of testimony before the inquiry, he mistakenly took the Bible in his left hand, when asked to place his right hand upon it; a gaffe noted by commissioner Peter Desbarats