Gordon O'Connor
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| Minister of National Defence | |
|---|---|
| Incumbent | |
| Riding | Carleton—Mississippi Mills |
| In office since | 2004 Federal Election |
| Preceded by | New district |
| Born | May 18, 1939 (age 67) Toronto, Ontario |
| Residence | Kanata, Ontario |
| Political party | |
| Profession(s) | Soldier, defence consultant |
Gordon James O'Connor, PC, OMM, CD, BA, B.Sc., MP (born May 18, 1939) is a retired Brigadier-General, current Canadian Member of Parliament and the Minister of National Defence. He is one of a few Defense Ministers to have served in the miltary, the last being Gilles Lamontagne.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, he has a B.Sc Mathematics and Physics from Concordia University and BA in Philosophy from York University.
He served over 30 years in the Canadian Army, starting as a Second Lieutenant in the Armour Branch, retiring with the rank of Brigadier General.
He then entered the private sector as Vice-President of Business Development for a large facility management firm, and Vice-President Operations for a vehicle testing centre.
He was a Senior Associate with Hill & Knowlton Canada, a world-wide public relations, public affairs and strategic communications company. O'Connor has also been an official lobbyist for several defense industry companies. These companies include: BAE Systems (1996 to 2004), General Dynamics (1996 to 2001), Atlas Elektronik GmbH (1999 to 2004), and Airbus Military (2001 to 2004) [1].
He was elected in the 2004 elections as a Conservative candidate in the Ottawa riding of Carleton—Mississippi Mills with slightly more than 50% of the vote. After winning he became Defence Critic for the Official Opposition. His vote share increased in the 2006 election. He is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada student #S157.
Gordon is married and has two children, both of them are adults. He now lives in Kanata, where he has lived for over 20 years.
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[edit] Controversial Cabinet selection
Though somewhat muted by the higher profile issues in the namings of David Emerson and Michael Fortier to the cabinet, the posting of O'Connor to the position of Minister of National Defence by Prime Minister Harper was met with controversy. Harkening back to ethics and accountability issues including a promised crackdown on lobbying and reforms to lobbying legislation [2] that Harper raised during the 2006 federal election, O'Connor's employment as a lobbyist for several major defence industry companies including some of the world's largest military contractors, such as General Dynamics, BAE Systems and Airbus as recently as 2004 was seen by many as peculiar. Some feared that with the posting the minister would often be dealing with the very companies for whom he advised for and assisted in soliciting defence contracts; seemingly putting him in constant peril of conflict-of-interest issues[3]. However, the aim of the Accountability Act is to prevent people from moving from government to lobbying, and not the opposite as was the case with O'Connor
There were potential conflict-of-interest issues early in his term as one of the first major issues the Conservatives pledged they would sort out is the replacement of the Forces 'tactical airlift' fleet. One of the most prominient companies bidding for the contract to replace the present fleet of C-130 Hercules Turboprops is Airbus S.A.S. for whom O'Connor worked as a lobbyist until February 2004, lobbying the former Liberal government to purchase the airplane that would become the Airbus A400M for its tactical airlift fleet[4].
The Canadian Government eventually decided on the C-17 Globemaster III, manufactured by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
[edit] Tenure as Minister
O'Connor announced on May 30th 2006 that the Canadian Forces would be suspending usage of the Mercedes G-Wagon combat vehicle to on-base operations only, after a number of Canadian soldiers were killed while travelling in the lightly-armoured vehicle. However, three months later it was revealed that no such order was ever given, and the controversial vehicles were still being used in combat operations.[5]
[edit] Controversial Comments on Afghanistan
On January 20, 2007 O'Connor was quoted as saying "When the Taliban or al-Qaeda came out of Afghanistan, they attacked the twin towers and in those twin towers, 25 Canadians were killed. The previous government and this government will not allow Canadians to be killed without retribution." [6]
[edit] Red Cross Controversy
In May 2005, as Canada's policy of detaining people in Afghanistan and transferring them to units of the Afghan police known for torture, Mr. O'Connor told Parliament that the Red Cross (actually the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, or ICRC) was monitoring the detainees after transfer. As he said in the House, "The Red Cross or the Red Crescent is responsible to supervise their treatment once the prisoners are in the hands of the Afghan authorities. If there is something wrong with their treatment, the Red Cross or Red Crescent would inform us and we would take action."
This statement was proved to be untrue by the ICRC, which in a statement to the Globe and Mail on March 3, 2007 said that it was "informed of the agreement, but ... not a party to it and ... not monitoring the implementation of it." The ICRC also advised that it also would not notify Canada as Mr. O'Connor claimed in the House, and this was agreed by a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, who stated "The ICRC is not required to notify Canada."
Mr. O'Connor subsequently acknowledged in a official release that his statement in Parliament was not true, and that the ICRC was not monitoring detainees and not informing Canada as he claimed. It was later revealed that Mr. O'Connor had been misinformed from the start and was guilty of no wrongdoing.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Political Biography from the Library of Parliament
- How'd They Vote?: Gordon O'Connor's voting history and quotes
| 28th Ministry - Government of Stephen Harper | ||
| Cabinet Post | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Bill Graham | Minister of National Defence (from 6-Feb-2006) |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by riding created in 2003; see Lanark—Carleton |
Member of Parliament from Carleton—Mississippi Mills 2004 - present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Members of the current Canadian Cabinet |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Ambrose | Baird | Bernier | Blackburn | Cannon | Clement | Day | Emerson | Finley | Flaherty | Fortier | Harper | Hearn | LeBreton | Lunn | MacKay | Nicholson | O'Connor | Oda | Prentice | Skelton | Solberg | Strahl | Thompson | Toews | Van Loan | Verner
Secretaries of State Guergis | Hill | Kenney | Paradis | Ritz |
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Categories: Members of the 28th Ministry in Canada | 1939 births | BAE Systems | Canadian generals | Conservative Party of Canada MPs | Current Members of the Canadian House of Commons | Canadians of Irish descent | Living people | Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Ontario | Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada | People from Toronto
