| André M. Levesque | |
| Honorific Suffix: | OMM, KStJ, OOnt, CD, FRSA |
| Birth Date: | 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Allegiance: | Canadian Armed Forces |
| Branch: | Public Affairs Branch Primary Reserve |
| Rank: | Lieutenant-colonel |
| Unit: | Governor General's Foot Guards, Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa |
| Known For: | Pioneering the field of memorialogy and his efforts to commemorate war history |
| Alma Mater: | University College Cork, National University of Ireland Carleton University |
André M. Levesque (born 1959 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a historian, geographer, former public servant and retired Canadian military officer. He is currently the Chancellor of the Priory of Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and also holds volunteer leadership roles for a number of other organizations including association Monument Amicitia France-Canada, Société nationale d'Entraide de la Médaille militaire, and Souvenir français au Canada.
Levesque is known for pioneering the field of memorialogy, the study of memorials and commemorative practices. He was responsible for the repatriation of Canada's Unknown Soldier from Vimy to Ottawa, along with other commemorative projects like the creation of the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa.
Levesque was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. His early studies were in urban and economic geography, and he completed a bachelor's degree and master's degree at Carleton University in Ottawa.[1] [2] He later obtained a PhD in history at University College Cork, National University of Ireland in 2013.[3]
Levesque was a research fellow of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute.[4]
Levesque was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces Army Reserves for 35 years, from 1974 until 2008. He initially served with the Governor General’s Foot Guards, before transferring to the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh’s Own).[5] He retired from the Public Affairs Branch in 2008 at the rank of lieutenant-colonel. During his service, Levesque met with veterans from conflicts such as World War II and the Korean War, which inspired him to become involved in the preservation of veterans' histories.[6]
While working with the Department of National Defence's Directorate of History and Heritage, he was the project manager responsible for planning and implementing Operation Memoria. The operation involved the repatriation of Canada's Unknown Soldier from Vimy, France to Ottawa, Ontario, in May 2000,[7] along with the organization of national commemorative ceremonies at both cities.
He was the project manager responsible for creating Canada’s National Military Cemetery located at Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, which was dedicated on June 28, 2001, by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.[8] He has volunteered as the cemetery's chief historian since December 2016.[9] [10]
Levesque led a partnership between the Organization of Military Museums of Canada (OMMC), Department of National Defence, Veterans Affairs Canada, as well as schools, youth, and veterans organizations to compile a detailed list of military monuments and plaques across Canada.[11] After three years of research, this volunteer group created a National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials website that was launched on April 2, 2001. The website, originally located with OMMC, was later transferred to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Renamed the Canadian Military Memorials Database, it has more than 8,200 memorials listed.
In 2001, at the request of Chief of the Defence Staff General Maurice Baril, Levesque re-established the Canadian Forces Artists Program and served as project manager.[12] The re-established program included an advisory committee that included representation from various organizations such as the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives Canada, and the Canadian War Museum.[13] Levesque created a pilot project that sent artists to military facilities and training areas throughout Canada and overseas to countries such as Afghanistan. The project was unveiled on D-Day, June 6, 2001. As of 2020, eight groups of artists had held an exhibition at the Canadian War Museum, with some of the best works being selected to be part of the museum's permanent collection.[14]
In his civilian career, he worked in urban planning and economic development with the City of Ottawa from 1986 to 1998. In 2001, he joined the Public Service of Canada to become a Senior Communications Advisor managing the Canadian Forces Parliamentary Program within the Department of National Defence.[15] In 2002, he became Chief of Canadian Forces Honours and Awards, and four years later, he was appointed as the Canadian Armed Forces' first Director of Honours and Recognition. During his tenure, he helped develop policies that changed the way members of the defence forces were recognized while serving in overseas operations.[16]
Levesque served on many policy and advisory committees, such as the Government Honours Policy Sub-Committee,[17] [18] the Canadian Decorations Advisory Committee (Bravery), the National Diamond Jubilee Advisory Committee, and Secretary of the Advisory Committee and Advisory Council for the Order of Military Merit from 2002 to 2013.[19] He was also chair of the Victoria Cross Production Planning Group which was responsible for manufacturing Canada’s highest decoration for military gallantry in the Canadian Honours System.[20] [21] Over eleven years, he oversaw the awarding of more than 200,000 awards to Canadians.
Levesque also modernized the regulations of the Memorial Cross, commonly known as the "Silver Cross", which had previously been unchanged since its creation in 1919.[22] With the beginning of the war in Afghanistan and the death of Captain Nichola Goddard in 2006, the regulations required substantive amendments that would reflect the fabric of modern families. Levesque proposed and received government approvals to increase the number of crosses from two to three and to allow members to designate recipients, instead of determining recipients based on consanguinity.[23]
From 2013 to 2016, Levesque was Director General of Commemoration at Veterans Affairs Canada in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.[24] As Director General, he organized national and international programs and events marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War and the 75th anniversary of the Second World War.[25] Working with the French government, he successfully led a joint effort[26] to award and present the Legion of Honour to more than 1,400 Canadian veterans who liberated France during the Second World War.[27] In 2016, he returned to Ottawa to work as a visiting scholar at the Royal Military College of Canada and retired from public service in 2019. On May 21, 2020, Levesque was appointed as a member and designated as chair of the Ontario Honours Advisory Council by the Government of Ontario.[28]
In August 2014, he founded the International Society for Commemoration, Memorials, and other Monuments, a non-profit learning organization composed of academics, professionals, students, and others. In Levesque’s doctoral thesis, he established "memorialogy" as a new interdisciplinary field of study that combines the study of memorials and associated commemorative practices.[29] He was inducted into the Order of Ontario in 2020 for his work as a "pioneer of memorialogy". In April 2024, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal acknowledged Levesque's contributions in this area during his speech at a ceremony honoring veterans of Canada and France, which had both Attal and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in attendance.[30]
In June 2020, Levesque was elected as Deputy Chancellor of St. John Ambulance in Canada and of the Priory of Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. He was appointed as the Order's Chancellor for the Priory of Canada by its Grand Prior, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester and invested by its Prior, Governor General Mary Simon on June 24, 2022 at the Chamber of the Senate of Canada. During his military service, Levesque had served as an instructor with the organization's training programs.
Levesque has volunteered with a number of community, veterans, historical and charitable organizations and initiatives at the local, national, and international level.
Levesque is president of Amicitia France-Canada, an organization which commemorates the historical friendship between France and Canada.[31] [32] He is president of the delegation of Canadian military medals at the Société Nationale d'Entraide de la Médaille Militaire,[33] and deputy delegate general of Souvenir français au Canada.[34] He is on the Committee of Experts on Commemorations for Canada's Capital with the National Capital Commission.
He is a volunteer historian with the Grays and Blues of Montreal, and also volunteers with the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada,[35] the Order of St. Lazarus, Grand Priory in Canada, Friends of the Canadian War Museum,[36] Association des anciens combattants français résident en Ontario et au Manitoba, Association des décorés de la Légion d'honneur (Région de la capitale du Canada), Florida National Cemetery, RED (Remember Everyone Deployed) Brigade Volunteer Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force Association, the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre, the Royal Canadian Legion, Scouts Canada, Veterans Initiatives Network of Prince Edward Island, and Veterans Voices of Canada, Flags of Remembrance.
Levesque has received the following orders and medals.
| Commander Cross with Swords pro Merito Melitensi | 2024 | |
| Order of Ottawa | 2023[41] | |
| Order of Ontario | 2020[42] | |
| Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (France) | 2017[43] | |
| Knight of Justice of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (KStJ) | Knight of Justice 2014 (KStJ)[44] Commander 2011 (CStJ[45] Member 2000 (MStJ)[46] | |
| Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal | 2012[47] – Canadian Version of this Medal | |
| Knight of the National Order of Merit (France) | 2012[48] | |
| Service Medal of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem | 2006, and bars, 2011, 2016, 2019 | |
| Officer of the Order of Military Merit (OMM) | 2006[49] | |
| Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France) | 2006 | |
| Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal | 2002 – Canadian Version of this Medal | |
| 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal | 1992 | |
| Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD) | 1986, and bars,1996, 2006 | |
| Year Adopted: | March 21, 1996 |
| Escutcheon: | Gules a lion rampant guardant triple queued and mitred and holding between the forepaws and dexter hind paw a crozier Or Crest |
| Crest: | Rising out of a coronet erable Gules a demi lion guardant triple queued and mitred Or and holding between the forepaws an astrolabe Gules |
| Motto: | (trans. "Success comes from Diligence") |
| Badge: | An astrolabe Gules perched thereon a parrot reguardant Or |
| Notes: | He is the first Levesque (individual or organization) to be granted a coat of arms from the Canadian Heraldic Authority. |
| Banner: | A standard, the Arms in the hoist, the fly per fess Gules and Or charged with the Crest between two representations of the Badge, all separated by two bends Or seme of maple leaves Gules. |