A behind-the-scenes battle over who will succeed the country's defence chief has spilled out in public and exposed the bitter, often conflicting visions of where the Canadian military is headed following the Afghan war.
Rumours have been rampant that the Harper government is willing to go outside the ranks of Canadian Forces brass in order to recall a trusted, retired officer to fill the shoes of Gen.
Walter Natynczyk, whose departure is expected within weeks.
The name that cropped up the most was that of former lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie, who headed the Canadian army until 2010 and penned a milestone report that recommended a radical overhaul of the military command structure.
Leslie, now a senior executive at the CGI Group, would not comment Tuesday. But a Postmedia report that claimed he'd been interviewed for the job was roundly denied by several well-placed sources, including a senior government official, 24 hours after it was published.
The other name in the mix is said to be retired air force lieutenant-general Angus Watt, who heads the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
The overheated rumour mill is likely a symptom of infighting as Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushes ahead with planned National Defence reforms, said Douglas Bland, chairman of defence management studies at Queen's University.
Leslie's vision of a leaner command structure and $1 billion in savings won rave reviews among the prime minister's staff and Conservative government officials, but earned a frosty reception within the senior establishment at National Defence.
The top-heavy military structure is a legacy of wartime reforms implemented by both Natynczyk and his predecessor as defence chief, retired general Rick Hillier.
The dismantling of the costly system began with last spring's deficit-slashing budget.
If Leslie or another retired officer is indeed being considered, that would suggest Natynczyk's recent reforms did not go far enough to satisfy the PMO, Bland said.
"I would say it's not [a] lack of confidence in the other candidates, but they would have more confidence in Andy Leslie to carry out the reforms that - as I understand it - the prime minister was keen on," said Bland, who has written a book about Canada's modern defence chiefs.
In June, a selection committee of deputy ministers drew up a list, and a round of interviews followed. All of the candidates under consideration at that point included serving officers, namely the current vice
chief of defence staff, ViceAdmiral Bruce Donaldson; the country's top officer at NORAD, Lt.-Gen. Tom Lawson; and the head of the Royal Canadian Navy, ViceAdmiral Paul Maddison.
An internal round of finger-pointing followed in the wake of the Leslie story on Monday, said sources at National Defence.
Leslie's supporters saw it as an attempt to undermine or scuttle his potential candidacy - not a far-fetched notion in tight-lipped Ottawa. Still others wanted to blame fans of Leslie, who are still in uniform, for promoting him too loudly.
Some in the military have lamented privately that by going outside, the PMO is slighting existing officers and undermining morale.
