Canada names first woman to lead military

OTTAWA: Canada´s prime minister announced on Wednesday the appointment of Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan as the first woman to lead the G7 and Nato member nation´s military.

A highly decorated soldier and mother of four children, two of whom serve in the Canadian Armed Forces, Carignan will be promoted to the rank of general and take over from retiring General Wayne Eyre as chief of the Defense Staff at a ceremony on July 18.

“I am confident that, as Canada´s new chief of the Defence Staff, she will help Canada be stronger, more secure, and ready to tackle global security challenges,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. At a press conference in Montreal, he added that Carignan takes over the leadership of the military at a pivotal moment marked by “complicated geopolitics and increased threats.”

The Canadian Armed Forces are also grappling with a toxic culture described in a damning 2022 external report as “hostile to women... (and) conducive to more serious incidents of sexual harassment and assault.”

Carignan was tasked over the past three years with reforming this culture to be more respectful and inclusive, following hundreds of sexual misconduct accusations, including some against top brass.

Women make up 16 percent of the Canadian military, according to government data. Carignan grew up in the mining town of Asbestos, Quebec, as the daughter of a policeman and a teacher.