General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Jonathan Holbert Vance (born January 3, 1964) is a retired

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

officer who served as a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), 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 re ...

. 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, it was alleged he boasted that he was "untouchable" by military police due to his high rank. On March 30, 2022, Vance pleaded guilty to a summary (misdemeanour) charge of obstruction of justice, and subsequently received a conditional discharge.

Early life, education and family

Vance was born on January 3, 1964, in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

. 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. He also wrote several mystery novels under pen names, including Ellery Queen. Vance won the World Fantasy Award for Life Ach ...

—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 Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was normall ...

, 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 academy, 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 Ro ...

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 The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

. His current wife is Kerry Vance (née Mahon), a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

colonel in the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (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 judge advocates ...

. 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 The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked first in the order of precedence amongst Canad ...

. 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 is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in 2009 and 2010. He went on to be commander of the

Canadian Joint Operations Command The Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC; ) is one of the two unified commands of the Canadian Armed Forces, the other one being the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. CJOC was announced in May 2012 as the result of the cost-cuttin ...

in September 2014.

Chief of the Defence Staff

On April 27, 2015, Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

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 32-nation alliance and pr ...

, 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 served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

announced that Vance would be succeeded by then-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, at least one of which was allegedly "unwanted", possibly violating "directives that govern personal relationships and such actions might contravene provisions in the

National Defence Act The ''National Defence Act'' (NDA; ; ''LDN'') is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, which is the primary enabling legislation for organizing and funding the military of Canada. The Act created the Department of National Defence, which merged ...

(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. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

. Additionally, the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

defence committee voted to study the matter, and the

Department of National Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

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 consensual relationship with Brennan, concurrent with his higher rank in the military and fathered two of her eight children. Brennan says that Vance told her that he was "untouchable" and that he "owned" the military police. Subsequent paternity testing showed that one child had 99.99991% chance of being fathered by Vance, while the other child did not. No charges were laid against Vance under the military justice system, following a review of the law by Morris Fish, retired justice of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

. 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 The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court court of record, of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and prov ...

in Ottawa. As a result of the guilty plea, he was given a conditional discharge 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 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. In Canada, a conditional discharge stays on the criminal record for three years after sentencing and thereafter will be sealed by the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

. In May 2022, Vance was expelled from the

alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students ( alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, school A school is the educati ...

of the

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 or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

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 most widely recognized as the national symbols of Canada, national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by ...

. * By virtue of his position, he served as an aide-de-camp to the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

, 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. * CAN Order of Military Merit Commander and Officer

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

Mary Simon Mary Jeannie May Simon (born August 21, 1947) is a Canadian civil servant, diplomat, and former broadcaster who has been serving as the 30th governor general of Canada since July 26, 2021. She is Inuit, Inuk on her mother's side, making her th ...

. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order in 2010 and upgraded to Commander in 2015.

References

External links

, - {{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 Commanders of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania People from Hastings County Royal Canadian Regiment officers Canadian military personnel from Ontario People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour