OMM Revocation

[Weinie]

Yup

Gen. Jonathan Vance stripped of Order of Military Merit after guilty plea, discharge

 

[Maxman1]

Gen. Jonathan Vance stripped of Order of Military Merit after guilty plea, discharge
By Sean Boynton Global News
Posted May 6, 2022 9:13 pm

Retired Gen. Jonathan Vance has been stripped of the prestigious Order of Military Merit after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice.

A notice of the revocation, which was approved on April 20, was published Friday in the Canada Gazette, the official federal government newspaper.

The revocation was approved by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon after an “individual request” that the Gazette notice suggests came from Vance himself.

Vance pleaded guilty on March 30 to one count of obstruction of justice laid against him, and was conditionally discharged from the military that he had previously overseen as chief of the defence staff.

The charge came after military police launched an investigation following allegations of inappropriate behaviour first published by Global News last year. The allegations sparked a national reckoning over military culture that continues to this day.

A petition seeking Vance’s removal from the Order of Military Merit was launched shortly after news broke of Vance’s guilty plea, stating that he should be removed because his plea has “brought dishonour” on the prestigious military award.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would not say whether Vance should keep the honour after Vance entered his plea, stating repeatedly that he would not comment on an ongoing court case.

Membership in the order is overseen by Canadian military leaders and the award carries material benefits for those deemed to have made “outstanding meritorious service and demonstrated leadership in duties of great responsibility.”

For example, members in the Order get “private VIP consultations with medical specialists” working at l’Hôpital de la Pitié Salpetrière in Paris, France, described as a “renowned university teaching hospital with specialists in many fields” and “one of Europe’s largest hospitals.”

Membership also allows members to rent vacation residences in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Malta and “several island nations, including in the Caribbean” at 50 per cent off.

They can also get “respite stays” at a retirement home called the Résidence de la Médaille Militaire, which is for recipients of a prestigious French military medal and is located in southern France near the Mediterranean coast.

France extends the same benefits it offers to members of a similar military honour society to members of the Order of Military Merit in gratitude for Canadian service during World War One and World War Two.

According to a spokesperson for Rideau Hall, the governor general could consider terminating an appointment to the order on the advice of the Order of Military Merit Advisory Council.

That council is the body that can weigh requests from the public to revoke the honour. Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre is the chair of the council.

But the Gazette notice signed by Ian McCowan, secretary general of the Order of Military Merit, suggests the request to revoke the honour did not come from the council or the general public.

“Notice is hereby given that, further to his individual request and the Governor General’s subsequent approval, the appointment of (Vance) to the Order of Military Merit was terminated by Ordinance signed on April 20, 2022,” the notice reads.

— with files from Amanda Connolly

 

[dapaterson]

I'd argue with the word "stripped" - this reads like a voluntary request to resign from the order.

 

[Furniture]

I'd argue with the word "stripped" - this reads like a voluntary request to resign from the order.

Agreed, and while his behaviour while CDS was reprehensible, I respect his accepting responsibility now.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Agreed, and while his behaviour while CDS was reprehensible, I respect his accepting responsibility now.

Well, he's living proof ...

"If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name."

- Theodore Roosevelt,

 

[futurepensioner]

I'd argue with the word "stripped" - this reads like a voluntary request to resign from the order.

I think that "stripped" is in keeping with how his Order was revoked. If I read it correctly, the GG issued an Ordnance that terminated his membership in the Order.

According to the Constitution of the Order, your membership in the Order ceases when:

25. (1) A person’s membership in the Order ceases when

(a) the person dies;

(b) the Governor General accepts the person's resignation from the Order, which resignation shall have been made in writing and given to the Secretary General; or

(c) the Governor General makes an ordinance terminating the person’s appointment to the Order.

(2) An ordinance terminating an appointment to the Order shall take effect on the day on which it is sealed with the Seal of the Order.

 

[Staff Weenie]

Agreed, and while his behaviour while CDS was reprehensible, I respect his accepting responsibility now.

I'm not as impressed - he probably knew that should he fail to do this within the near future, the decision most certainly would have been made for him. This just makes it look like he has some semblance of honour.

 

[brihard]

I'm not as impressed - he probably knew that should he fail to do this within the near future, the decision most certainly would have been made for him. This just makes it look like he has some semblance of honour.

"Quit or you're fired"

 

[dapaterson]

Hey, the dude is "Always Faithful". Just look at the coat of arms he had done.

Jonathan Holbert Vance

www.gg.ca

 

[Haggis]

Hey, the dude is "Always Faithful". Just look at the coat of arms he had done.

Jonathan Holbert Vance

www.gg.ca

I think there's a couple of children missing from the registry.

 

[Good2Golf]

Hey, the dude is "Always Faithful". Just look at the coat of arms he had done.

Jonathan Holbert Vance

www.gg.ca

Still less ludicrous than the arms of two silver-mullet sporting cougars holding up an empty brain bucket that sings…

Julie Payette

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Blazon
ALWAYS FAITHFUL;

Symbolism
Not applicable.

ALWAYS FAITHFUL - not applicable. At least that assessment is honest. He caused more damage to the CAF, next to the Somalia Inquiry, than any other. He plead guilty in order to avoid a trial and all it's damaging evidence. He was being expedient, not honourable, when he plead not guilty. I don't know how it happened or who was involved, I can only applaud the decision. I wonder if he's joined Callion yet.

 

[North Star]

Weird obscure protocol thing: now that he's no longer a holder of an OMM, doesn't he lose the silver-mullet cougars?

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Still less ludicrous than the arms of two silver-mullet sporting cougars holding up an empty brain bucket that sings…

Julie Payette

That is hideously bad! Amazing!

 

[brihard]

Weird obscure protocol thing: now that he's no longer a holder of an OMM, doesn't he lose the silver-mullet cougars?

Dammit, you got me curious, and I failed to find the clear rules around being entitled to heraldic supporters save that being a recipient of a sufficiently high honour can earn it. I don’t know if the MSC would suffice (though I would think it should?)

 

[Mick]

North Star said:
Weird obscure protocol thing: now that he's no longer a holder of an OMM, doesn't he lose the silver-mullet cougars?

Dammit, you got me curious, and I failed to find the clear rules around being entitled to heraldic supporters save that being a recipient of a sufficiently high honour can earn it. I don’t know if the MSC would suffice (though I would think it should?)

For clarity's sake, the "silver mullet cougars" are supporters of former GG Julie Payette's coat of arms, not Gen Vance's.

That said, Vance's (now revoked) CMM is depicted in his personal coat of arms. I wonder if protocol requires removal due his removal from the order?

 

[brihard]

North Star said:
Weird obscure protocol thing: now that he's no longer a holder of an OMM, doesn't he lose the silver-mullet cougars?


For clarity's sake, the "silver mullet cougars" are supporters of former GG Julie Payette's coat of arms, not Gen Vance's.

That said, Vance's (now revoked) CMM is depicted in his personal coat of arms. I wonder if protocol requires removal due his removal from the order?

Yup, I know it was a Payette reference extended to Vance. Still an interesting, if super obscure question.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Dammit, you got me curious, and I failed to find the clear rules around being entitled to heraldic supporters save that being a recipient of a sufficiently high honour can earn it. I don’t know if the MSC would suffice (though I would think it should?)

The Heralds probably have a big book of rules but the info is scanty on the website and the little there is doesn't respond well to a search. Here's one snippet.

Parts of a Coat of Arms

Shield, mantling, crest, supporters: what are the parts of a coat of arms?

www.gg.ca

Supporters and Compartment

The supporters, which can be animals or human figures, are placed on either side of the shield, appearing to hold it up. They usually stand on a base known as a compartment. In Canada, institutions (such as municipalities and schools), holders of certain state offices (such as the Governor General, Lieutenant-Governors, the Prime Minister, Premiers and Privy Councillors) as well as recipients at the highest levels of national honours can be granted supporters.

The "national honours" refer (in my understanding) to Order of Canada, Order of Military Merit, and Order of Merit of the Police Forces. The highest levels would be Companion or Commander depending on the order, i.e. CC, CMM, COM. This follows UK practice, however their "highest levels" are Knights/Dame Grand Cross and Knight/Dame Commander. While a MSC may not rise to the distinction of entitlement to supporters, I would hope that recipients of a VC or CV would meet the criteria.

. . . "silver mullet cougars" . . .

The "silver mullet" is not a hair style but the stars on the collar worn by the cougar.

 

[Good2Golf]

I think that such heraldry is like the Legion of Frontiersmen, you can call yourself whatever the fiddlesticks you want with however many silver-mulleted cougars or largely-endowed unicorns as you’d like, with as many sub-shields for your legitimate progeny as you’d like…it’s not very high up on the ‘truly official things most people care about’ in Canada list…

 

[Infanteer]

I think that such heraldry is like the Legion of Frontiersmen, you can call yourself whatever the fiddlesticks you want with however many silver-mulleted cougars or largely-endowed unicorns as you’d like, with as many sub-shields for your legitimate progeny as you’d like…it’s not very high up on the ‘truly official things most people care about’ in Canada list…

Something like this appears to be a sign of the self-importance one assigns to oneself....