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Andrew Leslie (Canadian Army officer)

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Lieutenant-General the Honourable
Andrew Leslie
PC CMM MSC MSM CD
Lt-Gen Leslie in 2013
Chief Government Whip
In office
November 20, 2015 – January 29, 2017
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byJohn Duncan
Succeeded byPablo Rodriguez
Member of Parliament
for Orléans
In office
October 19, 2015 – September 11, 2019
Preceded byRoyal Galipeau
Succeeded byMarie-France Lalonde
Chief of the Land Staff
In office
June, 2006 – June, 2010
Preceded byMarc Caron
Succeeded byPeter Devlin
Personal details
Born
Andrew Brooke Leslie

(1957-12-26) December 26, 1957 (age 66)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal
SpouseParis Jefferson
AwardsCommander of the Order of Military Merit
Meritorious Service Cross
Meritorious Service Medal
Canadian Forces' Decoration
Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland[1]
Military service
Allegiance Canada
Branch/service Land Force Command
Rank Lieutenant-general
Commands1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group
Chief of the Land Staff
Chief of Transformation
Battles/warsWar in Afghanistan

Andrew Brooke Leslie PC CMM MSC MSM CD (born December 26, 1957) is a retired Canadian Forces Lieutenant-General and politician who served as the Chief of the Land Staff from 2006 to 2010 and as a Member of Parliament representing the riding of Orléans in the House of Commons, from 2015 until 2019.

Background

[edit]

Born at Ottawa[2] in 1957, his father was Brigadier-General Edward Murray Dalziel Leslie (né McNaughton), Commander of 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (1 RCHA) during the Korean War.[3] Leslie's father changed the family name from McNaughton to Leslie in compliance with the terms of an inheritance from his aunt (and wife of James Norman Stuart Leslie,[4] descended from British Army Captain James Norman Stewart Leslie and General David Leslie).[5][6] His paternal grandfather was former Chief of the General Staff and Minister of National Defence General Andrew McNaughton, and his maternal grandfather was former Canadian Minister of National Defence Brooke Claxton.[7]

Military career

[edit]

Leslie joined the 30th Field Regiment whilst at the University of Ottawa.[8] As a graduate student in London, he was attached to the Honourable Artillery Company,[9] before transferring to the Regular Force in 1981.[8] He went on to be commanding officer of 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Shilo, Manitoba.[8]

Yugoslavia

[edit]

In 1995, Leslie was promoted colonel and posted to Yugoslavia as Chief of Staff for Sector South.[8] He then became the chief of staff and deputy commander of United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia.[8] During the attack of the Croatian forces on the Serbian-held Krajina region, he was credited with leading an operation which resulted in saving the lives of 40 civilians.[10][11]

Brigade

[edit]

Leslie was the Area Chief of Staff during the Manitoba floods disaster assistance efforts in Spring 1997.[8] Later that year, he became commander of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group based across Western Canada. In early 1998, the Brigade Group (reinforced) deployed to the South shore of Montreal to help with the ice storm disaster, and then continued with a series of Battle Group and Brigade Exercises.[8]

Communications and division command

[edit]

While participating in both the Advanced Military Studies and the National Military Studies programs in Toronto, Leslie was promoted to brigadier-general in 1999.[12] Later appointed as the J6 of the Canadian Forces, he commanded the Regular and Reserve communications and Electronic Warfare regiments and was responsible for the networks operations center and classified communications research establishments.[12] In 2002 he was promoted commander of Land Force Central Area, later renamed the 4th Canadian Division, responsible for one Regular and three Reserve Brigades, and various supporting bases.[8] He led the detailed mission reconnaissance in Afghanistan while the Canadian government considered options as to a 9/11 response.[8]

Afghanistan

[edit]

As of July 2003, Leslie was promoted to major-general and subsequently appointed commander of Land Force Doctrine and Training System.[12] In August 2003, he was appointed deputy commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, which would later become a NATO mission, working under a United Nations Chapter 7 mandate.[13] He was double hatted the commander of Task Force Kabul.[8] Leslie led the mission efforts which focused on stability, counter insurgency, and counter-terrorism operations, during which many hundreds of tanks, rocket launchers and heavy artillery were taken away from various warlords.[14] Upon his return to Canada, Leslie was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross.[8]

Leslie was then appointed assistant chief of the Land Staff in 2004, and shortly afterwards became the director general of strategic planning at National Defense Headquarters in Ottawa.[8] In June 2006, he was appointed Chief of the Land Staff.[15]

Chief of transformation

[edit]

In June 2010, General Leslie was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Peter Devlin as chief of Land Staff[16] being appointed Chief of Transformation for the Canadian Forces.[17] In this position, Leslie was responsible for releasing the 2011 Report on Transformation, which, among other changes, recommended significantly cutting headquarters' budgets and transferring the funds to front line combat units.[18] Leslie referred to this as transforming the Forces into "more tooth and less tail," a phrase that was used by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay. Some saw Leslie's report as recommending to sacrifice too many sacred cows, namely the bloated headquarters organizations.[19]

Retirement

[edit]

Leslie retired in September 2011 after 35 years in uniform and was subsequently hired by CGI Group to lead their new Defence, Public Safety and Intelligence unit in Ottawa.[20]

Post-military career

[edit]

Before officially retiring from military service, Leslie was approached by several members of the Prime Minister's Office to inquire about whether he was interested in heading a federal department or organization. These included discussions with Prime Minister Harper's Deputy Chiefs of Staff Derek Vanstone and Jenni Byrne about heading the Canadian Museum of Civilization. After Leslie retired from the Army he was approached again, this time about heading the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Leslie declined.[21]

Liberal advisor and candidacy

[edit]

On September 18, 2013, Leslie was named co-chairman of the Liberal International Affairs Council of Advisors, providing advice on foreign and defence issues to Liberal Party of Canada leader Justin Trudeau.[22][23] Leslie then ran as the Liberal parliamentary candidate in the 2015 general election for the riding of Orléans. He was elected the Member of Parliament for Orléans in the 2015 election ahead of Conservative incumbent Royal Galipeau.[24]

Member of Parliament

[edit]

Leslie was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as an MP and on November 20, 2015, he was named Chief Government Whip in the Commons.[25] On February 15, 2016, as Chief Government Whip Leslie was sworn of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.[26]

On May 1, 2019, Leslie retired from politics by not seeking re-election in the federal election.[27] On May 3, 2019, Leslie confirmed that he would be testifying for the defence at Vice-Admiral Mark Norman's breach of trust trial.[28] On May 7, 2019, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Canada's Public Prosecution Service planned to withdraw charges against Norman.[29]

Personal life

[edit]

On August 27, 2022, Leslie married actress Paris Jefferson.[30]

Honours and decorations

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Leslie has been awarded the following honours and decorations during and after his military career:





Ribbon Description Notes
Order of Military Merit (CMM)
  • Commander 21 September 2006
    • Officer 28 October 1998[31]
Meritorious Service Cross (MSC)
  • Awarded 2004 (Military Division)[32]
Meritorious Service Medal (MSM)
  • Awarded 1995 (Military Division)
General Campaign Star
  • South West Asia Ribbon
    • With "ISAF" Bar
Special Service Medal
  • With "NATO" Bar
Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal
  • 2000
UNFICYP
  • 90 days' service UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus
UNPROFOR
125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal
  • 1992
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
  • 2002 (Canadian Version)[33]
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • 2012 (Canadian Version)[34]
Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD)
  • With 2 Clasps
Legion of Merit
Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland

Electoral history

[edit]
2015 Canadian federal election: Orléans
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Andrew Leslie 46,542 59.7 +21.72 –
Conservative Royal Galipeau 23,821 30.5 -14.68 –
New Democratic Nancy Tremblay 6,215 8.0 -5.98 –
Green Raphaël Morin 1,410 1.8 -1.06 –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 77,988 100   $240,250.25
Total rejected ballots 272 0.30 –
Turnout 78,260 81.37 –
Eligible voters 96,174 – –
Liberal notional gain from Conservative Swing +18.2

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Monitor Polski 2010 nr 83 poz. 992 – number 8.
  2. ^ Laura Stone (18 February 2015). "Lunch with Liberal Andrew Leslie: 'Just going overseas and bombing does not work'". Global News. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  3. ^ "BGen EMD Leslie DSO, CD". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  4. ^ www.burkespeerage.com
  5. ^ Julie Beun. "Hon. Andrew Leslie's home pays tribute to family's rich military past". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  6. ^ "April 28, 1953 - COLONEL TAKES NEW NAME TO INHERIT $250,000 | Chicago Tribune Archive". Archives.chicagotribune.com. 1953-04-28. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  7. ^ "Andrew Leslie replaced in shuffle of military hierarchy". thestar.com.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Biography at Canadian Forces site Archived July 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ LGen AB Leslie biography Archived 2012-01-25 at the Wayback Machine, The RCA Museum
  10. ^ "Canadian army chief grilled at war crimes tribunal". 24 April 2008.
  11. ^ "Support for Leslie is deserved". 8 May 2008.
  12. ^ a b c Foley, Michael. "Lieutenant-General AB Leslie OMM, MSC, MSM, CD (1957- )". rca-arc.org. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  13. ^ NATO. "ISAF's mission in Afghanistan (2001-2014)". NATO. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  14. ^ Defence, National (2013-02-20). "Operation ATHENA". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  15. ^ "Leslie appointed head of Canada's land forces". CBC News. 15 June 2006.
  16. ^ Weese, Bryn (June 22, 2010). "New army boss 'extremely capable'". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Ottawa, Ontario. QMI press agency. p. 9. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Canadian Army To Get New Commander DND/CF Media Advisory, 18 June 2010
  18. ^ "Report on Transformation 2011".
  19. ^ "General's report calls for dramatic cuts to bloated military staffing". The Globe and Mail.
  20. ^ Retired Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie To Head Defence and Intelligence Business Unit at CGI Archived November 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine The Ottawa Citizen, 29 September 2011
  21. ^ "Email trail documents Tory job overtures to retired general". canada.com.
  22. ^ Den Tandt, Michael (18 September 2013). "Andrew Leslie, former commander of Canadian Army, joins Trudeau's team as adviser". National Post. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  23. ^ "Liberals Unveil Co-Chairs of International Affairs Council of Advisors". liberal.ca. Liberal Party of Canada. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  24. ^ "Joe Oliver, Olivia Chow and more surprising election night upsets". thestar.com. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  25. ^ "Andrew Leslie named government's chief whip". CTVNews. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  26. ^ "GingleLive - B2B video platform allowing you to Stream, Share, and Engage live content". ginglelive.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  27. ^ Andrew Leslie [@AndrewLeslieMP] (May 1, 2019). "It has been my honour and privilege to represent the constituents of Orléans as the federal Member of Parliament. After careful consideration, I believe it is time for me to take a new path. https://bit.ly/2Je8cLv" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Andrew Leslie set to testify for the defence in Mark Norman's breach of trust trial". Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  29. ^ "Andrew Prosecutors to drop criminal case of breach of trust against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman". Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  30. ^ "Paris Jefferson - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  31. ^ "The Governor General of Canada > Find a Recipient". gg.ca. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  32. ^ "The Governor General of Canada > Find a Recipient". gg.ca. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  33. ^ "The Governor General of Canada > Find a Recipient". gg.ca. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  34. ^ "The Governor General of Canada > Find a Recipient". gg.ca. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  35. ^ "Canada Gazette" (PDF). 4 December 2010.
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the Land Staff
2006–2010 		Succeeded by
Special Parliamentary Responsibilities
Predecessor Title Successor
John Duncan Chief Government Whip
2015–2017 		Pablo Rodriguez
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