Lieutenant General Jennie Carignan takes over as first woman in top Canadian military position

OTTAWA — A woman will finally hold the top job in the Canadian military after the federal government on Wednesday named Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan as the new defence chief.

Carignan currently serves as the Army’s chief of professional conduct and culture, a position created in the wake of the sexual misconduct crisis.

Several high-ranking leaders were forced to resign in 2021 after being accused of sexual misconduct.

The resulting scandal led to a damning external report by former Chief Justice Louise Arbour, which made a series of recommendations to change the toxic culture within the armed forces. Carignan was the public face of the efforts to reform that culture, and gave the public updates on efforts to implement those recommendations.

Carignan joined the Army in 1986 and commanded combat engineer regiments and troops responding to flooding in Quebec.

In 2008, she became the first woman to lead a combat unit in the Canadian military.

She received the Meritorious Service Medal and the Governor General’s Order of Military Merit, and her deployments included Afghanistan, Bosnia and Syria. She led a year-long NATO mission in Iraq that ended in late 2020.

Her official biography also states that she has four children, two of whom serve in the armed forces.

Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the appointment is “fantastic news,” noting that Carignan takes over 35 years after women were first allowed to serve in combat roles in the armed forces.

She also warned that there could be resistance or opposition, especially since the appointment comes from the Liberal government.

“Many people have experienced the Trudeau government’s efforts on inclusivity and gender equality as performative,” Duval-Lantoine said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Montreal on Wednesday that appointing the new defence chief was an “extremely important choice.”

“Especially in these times of complicated geopolitics and increased threats, especially to our Arctic,” he said.

“Ensuring that we have the right person to lead our armed forces at this crucial time was something that I think Canadians rightly felt we had to take seriously, which we did.”

Carignan takes over an army in transition, amid ongoing efforts to change culture and the urgent task of rebuilding the ranks after years of declining recruitment and poor retention.

The armed forces are short of about 16,000 and have for years failed to recruit more men than they have lost through retirement or redundancy, in what Defence Secretary Bill Blair described in March as a “death spiral”.

That’s a source of tension between the government and military leadership, as it comes amid increased pressure on the armed forces to respond to weather-related emergencies in Canada and expand the country’s presence in Eastern Europe as war rages in Ukraine.

Maya Eichler, a professor of political and women’s studies at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, said recruiting, training and retaining troops should be the top priority. She argued that goes hand in hand with making the military culture more inclusive.

“Lieutenant General Carignan has certainly gained a lot of insight into culture change and recovery. But in the current security context, it will be a challenge for any (defense chief) to keep culture change on the priority list, even when it is absolutely necessary to address recruitment and retention issues,” she said.

In a recent interview, the outgoing defense chief said the military is “starting to feel a turnaround” in recruitment.

General Wayne Eyre said Canada’s allies face similar challenges in recruiting men for their militaries, and that the problem is not fully understood.

He cited the “very tight labor market” as one of the challenges, along with changing demographics.

Eyre said there are also issues with Canadians’ willingness to serve, with “an increased incidence of medical and mental health problems.”

The armed forces are experimenting with changes to medical eligibility for people with certain conditions, such as allergies, or for people taking medications for ADHD.

“We have embarked on a path of significant change within the institution,” he said, adding that a forthcoming internal strategy will outline efforts to improve the military’s overall readiness.

Eyre was appointed in 2021 when Admiral Art McDonald resigned weeks after taking over as defence chief amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

He said stabilizing the organization after the scandal was the top priority.

“It’s a work in progress, and that’s what I’m leaving to my successor: unfinished work, but work that will never be finished because it continues to evolve,” he said.

Carignan will officially take command of the armed forces during a ceremony on July 18.

Lieutenant General Frances Allen, the first woman to be appointed vice chief of the defence staff, also plans to retire this year and will be replaced in an early August handover ceremony. Her successor has not been publicly named.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2024.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press