Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan chosen as first woman to head Canadian Armed Forces

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has selected Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan as the next Chief of the Defence Staff, the first woman to head the Canadian Armed Forces, according to a senior government official.

She replaces General Wayne Eyre, who is retiring after 40 years of service; he has held the top military job since 2021.

The announcement is expected Tuesday and Lt.-Gen. Carignan will officially take up her duties during a change-of-command ceremony on July 18 at the Canadian War Museum. The Globe is not identifying the government official because they were not authorized to speak about the appointment.

Lt.-Gen. Carignan is a three-star general with a reputation for excellent service. She has commanded troops in a NATO mission in Iraq, served as chief of staff of army operations and held senior roles at National Defence headquarters. The Prime Minister has spoken often about the need to promote women to important positions in government.

Thomas Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s graduate school of public and international affairs, said Lt.-Gen. Carignan “has significant and very diverse experience, which is very good.”

She is “known as a doer,” he said. “She is very direct, very blunt and generally viewed as effective.”

Andrea Charron, director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba, said the appointment is in keeping with the Liberal government’s brand. “The first female Chief of the Defence Staff: that’s certainly important for Canada.”

She said it will be interesting to see who is appointed as vice-chief of the defence staff because that’s “an office where all the problems end up.”

Prof. Charron said she expects the new defence chief will continue with the primary goal of improving readiness because “as we know recruitment and retention is such a problem.”

Lt.-Gen. Carignan’s most recent post has been chief of professional conduct in the military, where she has taken on the role of combatting sexual misconduct and overhauling the culture of the Canadian Forces.

One retired general said that role has likely led to some enemies within the armed forces, as more than a dozen current and former senior officers have been investigated or forced into retirement. The Globe and Mail is not naming the general, who did not wish to publicly discuss the matter.

Other Western countries have been working to promote women to higher ranks. For example, Britain recently promoted the most senior female officer in its armed forces to the post of Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.

General Dame Sharon Nesmith is the first woman to become the deputy head of the British military and will also serve as aide-de-camp to King Charles. She was the first woman to command an army brigade, the first woman to command a British division-level military unit and the first woman to be promoted to Lieutenant-General in the British Army.

As Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt.-Gen Carignan will be facing major challenges with demands from Canada’s allies to significantly beef up military spending.

Over the years, the Canadian Armed Forces has been hampered by recruitment shortfalls and procurement delays that have put its force readiness at risk and pushed back critical equipment upgrades. Although there is no timeline for equipment purchases, the government’s recent military update pledges to look at options to replace Canada’s aging submarines, purchase new light armoured vehicles and tanks and acquire ground-based air-defence systems.

In a recent interview, Gen. Eyre said the $8.1-billion committed by the government to defence spending over the next five years falls short of the NATO spending target of 2 per cent of annual economic output.

The defence policy update, released April 8, and named Our North, Strong and Free, has been kept under wraps since 2022 as the government debated what should be included.

The policy calls for a fleet of early-warning aircraft and tactical helicopters, maritime sensors to detect missiles and ships as well as a satellite ground station in the Arctic and expanded runways and port facilities in the region.

Last August, rivals Russia and China conducted joint exercises in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. Russia has been building modern military bases and has nuclear submarines and a fleet of 13 polar icebreakers. China, which has declared itself a near-Arctic state, has two medium-strength icebreakers and is building an even larger, more powerful vessel. Beijing wants to use the Northern Sea Route through Russia’s Arctic to import energy and export goods.

Gen. Eyre said the policy update is “welcomed by our allies. For far too long, we have been off in the Arctic,” he said. “Our hold on the Arctic is not a given.”

Ottawa said it will add $73-billion in net new defence spending over the next 20 years. Of that, $8.1-billion will roll out in the next five years. That will increase Canada’s defence spending to 1.76 per cent of gross domestic product in 2029-30, according to the update. But that would still fall short of NATO’s 2-per-cent target. The alliance last estimated Canada’s military spending to be 1.37 per cent of GDP.