Gordon O’Connor knows his time as Canada’s minister of national defence will be defined not by longevity, but by accomplishments.

With his first anniversary in the portfolio just over three weeks away, the Member of Parliament for Carleton-Mississippi Mills reflected on an extremely busy and productive 12 months, during a wide-ranging interview with the Record News EMC last Friday.

“I’m doing the job I love,” he says, putting to rest a rumour that flashed around Ottawa last week he would not seek re-election when the Conservative government is put to the test. Many observers believe an election will happen this year.

“I’m not retiring,” he says emphatically. “I have been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate in Carleton-Mississippi Mills. And I will be running in the next election, although obviously I hope that won’t occur for some time yet.”

There was also some media speculation O’Connor would be caught in the first cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Stephen Harper which took place the day before (Jan. 4). He smiles and shrugs his shoulders when asked how that information was reported, along with the retirement rumour.

“One thing I have discovered as a politician is to expect the unexpected when it comes to the media,” he chuckles. “I sometimes scratch my head at the things I read or hear.”

O’Connor says he knew well in advance he would not be leaving the defence post Harper handed him following the Tories’ election victory last January. O’Connor himself was swept back into office for a second term with the biggest majority of any Conservative member in Ontario.

The 67-year-old adds, “I was eligible to retire when I came into this job.

“This is my third career,” he says, flashing a smile at his director of communications Isabelle Bouchard who was seated at a nearby desk.

But O’Connor quickly turns serious when the conversation moves to his key role as defence minister.

“My objective in this job is to help improve the military and the lives of Canadians,” he states. He is hopeful what he calls “my master plan” will receive government approval this year and notes the most satisfying part of his job is “making announcements that improve the (armed forces) equipment and increase the number of personnel.” Looking around his impressive 13th floor office in National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in downtown Ottawa, with the Peace Tower clearly visible in the distance, O’Connor says he is more than aware the rank and privilege that accompanies the position is strictly temporary.

“I will only be in this job for so long. The trappings will be gone very quickly. It’s what I accomplish that’s important,” he underlines.

“Our troops have to be well trained and well equipped,” he emphasizes.

Good future
Looking ahead, O’Connor is confident in the future of the Canadian Forces and he does a very sincere job selling the military as a career option.

“There is a good future for anyone who joins the armed forces,” he predicts.

Although he readily admits to being “a party loyalist” O’Connor says partisan politics doesn’t impress him.

“If someone (in any party) has a good idea – a good plan – I like to hear it,” he says. In line with that thinking he notes that in the period leading up to the Conservative victory in 2006, the former Liberal government of Paul Martin was already starting the process of rebuilding the military.

“We are adding on to that,” O’Connor remarks.

He admits his portfolio, along with the environment post (Ottawa West-Nepean MP John Baird replaced embattled minister Rona Ambrose in last week’s shuffle) and the Indian and Northern Affairs position are the most contentious in cabinet.

“We’re under attack all the time,” he says, with a wave of his hand.

However, the former Canadian Army Brigadier General is confident he has handled his duties effectively to date. He’s also pleased with progress made in the department during the past year.

“There are 115,000 people in the Defence Department,” O’Connor says. “They (military and staff) are always generating news. The mission in Afghanistan is always generating news. Search and rescue generates news. This is a very busy department.”

He says the size of the defence budget (now approaching $16 billion annually) underlines how busy his department is. “Something is obviously happening when we’re spending $16 billion,” the minister underlines. O’Connor admits the war in Afghanistan, and Canadian soldiers’ role in the conflict, are never far from his thoughts. “Canadians are fighting and some are dying in Afghanistan,” he states, adding that as defence minister he feels “a tremendous responsibility” to the soldiers and their families.

He made two trips to the war-torn country in 2006, once in the company of Harper. O’Connor stresses he intends to do everything in his power to help the soldiers who are stationed there and to improve the capability of the Canadian Forces in general.

“While I was in Afghanistan I talked to our soldiers and they told me some of the things they needed,” he notes. O’Connor says he was subsequently able to arrange for the deployment of a tank squadron to help protect troops operating in the field, along with an additional infantry contingent “to defend reconstruction teams working there. “That’s 450 additional troops,” he states.

The minister is pleased with the achievements in the department during his first year on the job. “I have received a commitment from the prime minister and the cabinet for $5.3 billion (in additional defence spending) over the next three years,” he says proudly.

That money is over and above the $17 billion in procurements for the military, O’Connor himself announced during a cross-Canada trip last summer.

Included in those announcements were the purchase of more strategic airlift and heavy airlift capability (additional aircraft), more helicopters, thousands of new trucks to replace an aging vehicle fleet and new support ships for the Canadian Navy.

Public support up
Despite ongoing criticism of the Afghanistan mission in some quarters, the defence minister feels it has led to more general support for the armed forces.

“Support for the military is rising in Canada,” he says confidently. He points to ‘Wear Red Fridays’ and the number of people with ‘Support Our Troops’ stickers or pins, on their vehicles or in their lapels, as signs of increased public support for soldiers serving in the war-torn nation. O’Connor himself wears a support pin on his suit jacket. He is also buoyed by what he sees as a reduction in the level of criticism of the Afghan operation. “I think we’ve hit a leveling off point,” he states.

“But we (government) have also started to push back,” he explains, noting the Tories have faced the criticism head-on in an effort to explain the purpose and the importance of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) initiative in the Central Asian nation.

“The more Canadians who understand why we are there, the better,” O’Connor says.

Despite the busy nature of his current post, he says he is cognizant of his overall responsibilities as an MP.

“I have three responsibilities in government. Department business, Parliamentary business – including Question Period (in the House of Commons) – and my constituency business,” he outlines. The minister expresses gratitude to his constituents who not only returned him to office with a huge majority, but who have been very supportive and patient as he fulfills his busy daily agenda within the Defence Department. O’Connor adds “I’m fortunate to be an Ottawa area MP. “I am only 35 minutes from home and the riding. I can be anywhere (in the constituency) very quickly.”

He says that’s not the case for many members and points to the example of British Columbia, where MPs need a full day of travel just to get home.

Referring to the Carleton-Mississippi Mills riding he says his regular visits to communities across the constituency are coming up this month.

“I have my ‘In Your Area’ days in January,” O’Connor explains, adding he is looking forward to speaking to residents about their concerns. “I enjoy meeting people.”

The evening sessions are scheduled for approximately 6:30 p.m. The first was held in Kanata on Monday night. Upcoming sessions are planned for the library branch in Stittsville next Monday (Jan. 15) and the Carp library branch on Tuesday, Jan. 16. The following Monday (Jan. 22) he will be in Almonte and the next night O’Connor will again meet with Kanata residents. He says he requires two sessions in Kanata (he and his wife have lived in the community for more than 20 years) because of the rapidly growing population there.

“I hope I have balanced things properly,” he reflects. “I try to get out to the riding as often as I can.”

There’s no doubt his daily schedule as the nation’s defence minister leaves him with very little personal time. The job involves a lot of national and international travel, along with his daily duties at NDHQ and on Parliament Hill.

“I can almost see my (Parliamentary) office from here,” he laughs, gazing out the window of his office through a misty Ottawa morning. “It’s usually a lot brighter in here,” he apologizes.

Busy life
A typical day for O’Connor sees him out of bed at 5:30 a.m. collecting four daily newspapers from the front doorstep. “I have to be up to speed on what is going on.”

Bouchard confirms the former general is extremely punctual and is always in his NDHQ office “by 7:15 every morning.”

Following the interview Bouchard told the Record News EMC that, after a full morning of meetings and general department business, her boss regularly has his lunch in the main floor cafeteria of what she calls “Canada’s Pentagon.”

“He just goes down by himself. So does General Hillier (Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff has an office on the same floor as O’Connor). They like to (mingle) with the staff,” Bouchard explains.

O’Connor routinely visits his Parliament Hill constituency office to manage ongoing business and when the House of Commons is in session he regularly attends the daily Question Period. Parliament watchers give him high marks for his calm, cool handling of sensitive and pointed questions from the opposition.

O’Connor himself says that during a normal week “I rarely have supper with my wife. “On a good day I might be home at 6:30. But usually it is 7:30 or even 9 o’clock, depending on what’s happening.” He and Carol have been married for 44 years. The couple has two adult children, a son and a daughter. “We’re empty nesters,” he chuckles.

O’Connor says that after a career that included more than 30 years in the Armed Forces (he joined the army as a Second Lieutenant in the Armour Branch and retired as a Brigadier General) his wife is used to his schedule. “We’ve been married a long time. We know each other very well,” he says with obvious affection. The couple reserves time for themselves “on the weekends” and he says they enjoyed a “very good holiday season” with family and friends.

“There is just one (Christmas) rule in our house. I’m always Santa Claus,” he laughs.

In terms of his future priorities, O’Connor is passionate when he discusses the Tory plan to impose Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.

“The north is our frontier,” he says bluntly. “We have to protect it.”

Using a Canadian map (under glass on a desk in his office) as a point of reference, he outlines the territory involved. From a defence point of view he feels the Canadian military should be able to operate freely in the north. And he says there should be “no dispute about our sovereignty” over the islands that comprise the Arctic Archipelago. “We (government) intend to enforce our laws there,” he explains, saying that when it comes to issues such as pollution (i.e. toxic ship cargoes), criminal activity and search and rescue, responsibility for the far north is entirely in Canada’s court.

“If there are problems (in the north) who inherits them,” he asks. “We are responsible,” O’Connor states.

He adds that although the military makes a contribution, the north remains “a national issue.” To further illustrate his opinion he pointed to a photo of Harper, taken during a visit to the Arctic last year. “The prime minister said the highlight of his (first) year in office was ‘Dipping his toe in the Arctic Ocean’. I think that says a lot about our (Tories) commitment to the north.”

O’Connor is equally committed to his role as defence minister, a responsibility he says he takes very seriously. Asked about the portraits of past ministers of National Defence that hang on the wall in the reception area outside his office, he says “there are 62 of them.” Referred to one photograph in particular, that of former Liberal defence minister Paul Hellyer who oversaw the controversial integration and unification of the army, navy and air force in 1965 (the so-called “greening” of the Canadian Forces), O’Connor shakes his head knowingly.

“I came in (to the army) on the 4th of September 1962. I know what that was all about,” he observes, recalling with apparent distaste the decision which saw all armed forces personnel required to wear the same (green) uniform.