Hillier Gone! WTF

[Shades]

We finally have a good Chief of Defense and.....
__________________________________________
Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of Canada's defence staff, will step down July 1, CBC News has confirmed.

The native of Newfoundland and Labrador has been in the job since February 2005. The role doesn't have a defined length, but the average tenure is three to five years.

Last October, it was reported that the Conservatives were seeking to push the outspoken senior military commander out of his job.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper denied the report, praising Hillier as an outstanding soldier and saying there had been no discussion about the possibility of changing the chief of defence staff.

Hillier had also said he's not finished his work as defence chief.

"I love being a soldier," Hillier said in October. "I still have things to do here in the immediate future, and I intend to do them."

Hillier is viewed as highly popular among the rank-and-file of Canada's military. His own career has spanned three decades — he joined the army right after graduating from Memorial University.

Before being named chief of defence staff, he was the head of the army and also commanded the NATO-led multinational Afghanistan mission in 2004.

 

[TQM]

who'd believe

that it would be the Conservatives that would have sour relations to the military.

Kudos to Harper for another fuck up.

 

[danmand]

that it would be the Conservatives that would have sour relations to the military.

Kudos to Harper for another fuck up.

No, Harper did well. Generals don't make policy in Canada.

 

[kevinray]

A strong military man with any degree of independence of thought is bound to be at odds with his civilian masters at some point(s) in time, regardless of their political stripe. Hillier's experience as CDS certainly bears this out this point of view.

Most CDSs serve for two or three years in that capacity, because it's an extremely demanding job. He'll have done more than three when he retires in July - I'd guess that he's tired, and is satisfied with the government's choice for his successor.

 

[Shades]

Any one want to wager that we will see him running for election soon? How about for the Conservatives in Nfld....or perhaps the Liberals in Peter McKay's riding

 

[oldjones]

Says CBC News has confirmed he'll step down w/o saying how or who confirmed, and quotes Hillier saying he's actually still got stuff to do as CDS for the immediate future. So the 'news' amounts to gossip.

And even if true, as was pointed out above, he will have served a normal sort of term. Didn't Ray Heneault and John deChastelain both move on after a similar period? So the 'resignation' would pretty much be a ho-hum.

 

[landscaper]

the cds staff position is the same as most others a three year term otherwise the top brass would stagnate with nowhere to go.

The people doing the pushing were the beurocrats . They don't like the fact that a common soldier would not do things the way they should be done, at least in their opinion.

His replacement has large shoes to fill and really should be an army guy .

 

[TQM]

danmand,

HIllier never "made" policy.

 

[stang]

Was expected. No big news.

 

[landscaper]

just watched the news conference he's leaving on his terms in July done his job going golfing


Good for him

 

[Pargolfer]

He might say he is leaving on his terms but...

you can be assured that Harper and the Conservatives have their DNA all over this one...There were rumours six months ago that he would be leaving because of disagreements with Harper.Just took a little longer for the dust to clear before Harper pulled the trigger..

just watched the news conference he's leaving on his terms in July done his job going golfing


Good for him

 

[xarir]

I'd salute General Hillier but as a civilian I don't have the privilege of wearing the uniform. Instead I'll just note that it's a real shame to be losing someone of his unique caliber. I hope the next CDS is at least half as good as Hillier was.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

Any one want to wager that we will see him running for election soon? How about for the Conservatives in Nfld....or perhaps the Liberals in Peter McKay's riding

In an interview tonight on CBC he said he would not run for political office. He is the last person I can think of that would say he was not going to do something then turn around and do it.

I doubt he will get into politics.

Good luck General, and congratulations on a job well done!

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

you can be assured that Harper and the Conservatives have their DNA all over this one...There were rumours six months ago that he would be leaving because of disagreements with Harper.Just took a little longer for the dust to clear before Harper pulled the trigger..

Bullshit.

As others have stated his term was about as long as most CDS's. He even stated that some friction with elected officials was part of the job and his relationship with this government was as good as it was with Martin.

 

[james t kirk]

He did a great job in my opinion.

The CF NEEDS a guy like Hillier at the helm. He had the balls to stand up to the PMO and say it like it was. The Canadian military had suffered for more than a decade under the Chretien liberals. (Let's face it, ole Jean had little if any use for the military and he did everything he did to gut them to nothing.)

Hillier came in a started to push hard to get the government to finally put some money into the military. Not a lot, but a bit more than they had. And like anything else, the squeeky wheel gets the grease.

So Hillier did what he had to do to help his men and he paid the price. Harper is a control freak extra-ordinaire and Hillier doesn't suffer pudgy fools gladly. It had to end.

It's truly unfortunate for the military that they've lost him since I don't think the next guy will be as vocal.

 

[train]

that it would be the Conservatives that would have sour relations to the military.

Kudos to Harper for another fuck up.

Yet again you are wrong just because you are such a blind Liberal. He made it clear that it had nothing to do with his relations with the current government.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

Yet again you are wrong just because you are such a blind Liberal. He made it clear that it had nothing to do with his relations with the current government.

It seems TQM has more insight on why the General retired than Hillier himself.

Which brings us to the next question; who are you going to believe, Hillier or TQM?

 

[train]

It seems TQM has more insight on why the General retired than Hillier himself.

Which brings us to the next question; who are you going to believe, Hillier or TQM?

Well, we know that TQM isn't the slightest bit biased. Also if we don't agree with him he will call us idiots and probably stamp his feet. So I guess we had better tell him we are sorry.

 

[Pargolfer]

Whatever....

For some reason I believe there were other factors at play here..

Bullshit.

As others have stated his term was about as long as most CDS's. He even stated that some friction with elected officials was part of the job and his relationship with this government was as good as it was with Martin.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

For some reason I believe there were other factors at play here..

Why? Just a feeling or do you have some insight the rest of us don't have?

3-4 years seems to be the standard lifespan of a CDS. While outspoken, Hillier understood his role was to apply policy not create it. He didn't agree with all of Harper's policies I'm sure, but I'm confident he was happy to see a government make more of a committment to the armed forces than the previous Liberal governments. Besides, his confrontations with this government were with O'Connor (no longer Minister of Defence) and Harper's Communcations Director, not Harper himself.

I realize all the Harper bashers want to believe he had a role in Hillier's exit, but it doesn't make sense. If we consider all of Harper's faults (real and perceived), I think we can agree stupidity isn't one of them. Firing a man the calibre of Hillier would be stupid. The bottom line, Hillier is a soldier and will follow orders. Harper the "control freak" knew this and didn't have to threaten him to have him conform.

I know many want to make Harper out to be evil but I don't buy it. Of course, I never believed tanks would be rolling in the streets when he became PM either.