Canada's top commander in Afghanistan relieved of duties

NEWS RELEASE

DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE

************************* Commander Joint Task Force Afghanistan relieved of his duty

OTTAWA, ON - (May 29) - Commander Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM), Lieutenant-General Marc Lessard announced today that he has relieved Brigadier-General Daniel Menard [shown] from his position as Commander Joint-Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) and has designated Colonel Simon Hetherington as acting commander in the interim.

LGen Lessard made this decision following allegations concerning BGen Menard's inappropriate conduct related to the Canadian Forces personal relationships and fraternization directives, which caused Commander CEFCOM to lose confidence in BGen Menard's capacity to command.

An investigation into the circumstances related to the allegations is being launched.

In the near future, the Canadian Forces will dispatch former JTF-Afg Commander Brigadier-General Jon Vance to Afghanistan to assume command, pending the arrival of the next JTF-Afg Commander Brigadier-General Dean Milner.

Note to Editors: No further statements related to this matter will be made at this time, and no requests for interviews will be considered.

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