‘I’m ready for this’- Canada’s 1st female defence chief takes command

‘I’m ready for this’- Canada’s 1st female defence chief takes command  Canada first female army chief  sky news  fox news

Transcript

00:00It's a new era for the Canadian Armed Forces, as General Jenny Carignan takes command.

00:10You are the very first woman to ever become Chief of the Defence Staff, the very first

00:16in the G7 and in the G20.

00:18Trained as a combat engineer, she's led NATO's mission in Iraq, tried to change the military's

00:25culture after a sexual misconduct crisis, and now this.

00:29Today, I can say that I feel ready, poised and supported.

00:35The next step, inheriting an understaffed and under-equipped military during a perilous

00:40time.

00:42Canada's outgoing top soldier delivered a stark warning.

00:45Our military history is one of unpreparedness at the outset of war.

00:50Let's not let that happen again.

00:53Urgency is required.

00:54According to internal defence documents, under 60% of the military is ready to respond to

01:00a crisis, almost half the equipment isn't serviceable, and there's a massive shortfall

01:05in staff.

01:06The crisis in military personnel, there are close to 6,000 positions to fill.

01:12Carignan says her top priority is addressing recruitment, and laid out a timeline to counter

01:17growing threats from Russia and China.

01:20I say we have about five years to get us close enough to be ready to counter those long-range

01:29type of threats.

01:30An ambitious target on a historic day.

01:33I'm going to get a little bit emotional here.

01:36I've done this because I love it.

01:38Carignan says her new role is a sign to those excluded in the past that anything is possible.

01:44I get now to lead these fantastic people in, you know, very difficult times.

01:51It's not going to be easy, folks.

01:52I'm telling you, there's nothing that is going to be easy going forward.

01:56And the stakes going forward are high.

01:59Ashley Burke, CBC News, Ottawa.