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Canada Frist Female Army Chief
Canada
canada female army chief appointment
Transcript
00:00Well, the Canadian Armed Forces gets a new command chief today as Jenny Carignan makes
00:07history as the first woman to hold the top military position in Canada.
00:12CTV's Mike LeCouture is on hand with the latest.
00:16Thanks for joining us, Mike.
00:18Let's talk about the credentials and what makes her the best person suited for this
00:24job.
00:26Yeah, she has such a long-storied career in the Canadian Armed Forces, 35 years actually.
00:31She started in the same year that women won a Canadian Human Rights Council verdict that
00:37decided that women could serve in all roles in the military, including combat, and that
00:43is something that really sort of sets her apart, a pioneer in the military already.
00:47Back in 2008, she became the first female in the Canadian Armed Forces to actually command
00:52a combat arms unit, and then from there, she served in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Syria.
00:57So really, such a career-leading people, and at one point, she did command two combat engineer
01:04regiments where she led more than 10,000 soldiers, so certainly a leadership position is nothing
01:09new to her.
01:10Also, most recently, she'd served in a position which was called the Chief of Professional
01:14Conduct and Culture at the Department of National Defence, and in that role, she was charged
01:20with essentially trying to sort of reform the culture of the military.
01:24As we remember, there had been a number of high-ranking military officers who had been
01:29dismissed or at least accused of misconduct in the military, and so she was the person
01:35who was charged with that.
01:37And the number of people that we had spoken to about her, about not only her credentials,
01:41but who she is as a person, they had told us that she's someone who's very good at listening
01:45and somebody who is really good at having those difficult conversations with people,
01:51and that is something that the rank-and-file will appreciate.
01:54We know that they've been through a lot.
01:55We know that it has been a difficult time for the military, and so having her really
02:01sort of turns the page here in this chapter, even though there are some people that see
02:06this as it could be performative and having a female lead the military, certainly the
02:11Prime Minister when he announced this and said that she is the right person for the
02:14job, and a number of other people that we've spoken to are echoing that, saying that this
02:19is the right person to lead the military going forward.
02:22You talked about some of the challenges that the military has been facing, especially how
02:26much it's been plagued by these sexual misconduct situations, but there's also been challenges
02:32regarding enrollments for new recruits.
02:36There's been issues regarding keeping our military equipment and fleets up to date.
02:43What are some of the other challenges that you think she will face moving forward?
02:48Yeah, it's that recruitment and retention, right?
02:51That has been the biggest issue for the military.
02:54The number that we are hearing is that they are in a deficit of 16,500 troops that they
02:59have not been able to replace after release or retirement, and that is something that
03:04will be difficult.
03:05Will her appointment signal that type of change that will help with that recruitment?
03:09Unclear.
03:10And yes, there has been the issue of different deployments as well.
03:14We've heard in the past, General Wayne Ayer, the outgoing chief of the defense staff, had
03:18told Vashti Kapelos, the host of Question Period, in his outgoing interview, that he
03:23was concerned that the military is not ready to counter the threats that we see coming.
03:28And part of the issue that goes along with that is the fact that the military has often
03:32been deployed here domestically for a number of things, floods and wildfires.
03:38But going forward, one of the things that she will benefit from is she'll be one of
03:41the first CDSs in a long time that actually has the backing of the government in terms
03:46of funding the military to the point of that NATO target of 2% of GDP.
03:52So that will be something that could help her going forward.
03:56But certainly, as you had mentioned, the challenges ahead are a number of them, but she will be
04:01asked about those as well after the ceremony when she meets with reporters.
04:06CTV's Michael LeCouture.
04:07We appreciate that update.
04:08Thanks for joining us.