OTTAWA – Canada saw a historic development as General Jennie Carignan has become the country’s first woman chief of the defense staff.
Gen Carignan took over General Wayne Eyre, who served as the chief of the armed forces since 2021. She has led the troops in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq and Syria during her service in the Canadian Army.
“I feel ready, poised and supported to take on this manifold challenge,” Carignan said at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
“Conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, heightened tensions elsewhere around the world, climate change, increased demands on our personnel at home and abroad, and threats to our democratic values and institutions are but a few of the complex challenges we need to adapt to and counter,” international media quoted Carignan as having said.
It is recalled that Canadina Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Lt-Gen Jennie Carignan as the first woman to lead the nation’s military earlier this month.
“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 had said at that time.
Gen Carignan, who is a highly decorated soldier, is mother of four children, two of whom serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
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