New chief of the defence staff makes history, warns of 5-year timeline to counter Russia, China threats

Canada’s newly appointed top soldier warns our country may not be ready to respond to “conventional” and “unconventional” threats from adversarial state actors, especially with the thawing of the North changing the landscape.

After officially becoming the new chief of the defence staff on Thursday, Gen. Jennie Carignan told reporters there’s a tight timeline — about five years, in her estimation — to prepare to counter those increased threats, specifically from Russia and China, which she told reporters are “evolving their capacities to reach us in Canada and continental Americas.”

The comments came amid widespread concerns about military readiness.

“We feel safe in Canada,” Carignan said. “Historically, we have a great friend to our south, we have big oceans, we had a very deep, frozen Arctic, and that has historically shielded us well from many threats, (but) not so much anymore.”

The sobering assessment came as Carignan made history by becoming the first female to lead the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), officially taking on the role following a ceremony in Ottawa on Thursday. A historic accomplishment thirty-five years after women gained the right to participate in combat roles with the military.

Canada’s first female infantry officer believes Carignan’s appointment is well deserved, and that young men and women will look up to the new chief of the defence staff (CDS).

“Knowing that there’s a mentor out there, there’s somebody that has broken that glass ceiling, and that it’s possible… There’s no more barriers to the top rank of the Canadian Armed Forces,” Sandra Perron told CTV News in an interview.

While some have seen the Liberal government’s efforts towards inclusivity and gender parity in the military as performative, Perron believes Carignan’s CV speaks to her experience and how deserving she is of the job.

“She’s had strategic planning experience at high levels. She’s commanded and led large and complex operations in a theatre of war as commander of NATO in Iraq,” Perron said.

Carignan’s military career has spanned 35 years, including commanding two combat engineer regiments where she led more than 10,000 soldiers. In 2008, she became the first woman in CAF history to command a combat arms unit. She deployed to Afghanistan the following year, and also served in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Syria.

More recently, Carignan served as chief of professional conduct and culture at the Department of National Defence, leading the CAF’s efforts to transform the culture of the military.

Speaking to reporters after the change of command ceremony, Carignan got emotional when asked about the historic significance of her appointment.

“What this means for women or marginalized groups, racialized Canadians, LGBTQ2S+ community, Indigenous people. It means that it’s possible, folks. The door is open. Give us a shot,” Carignan said.

In announcing the new appointment, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters the new defence chief was an “extraordinarily important choice,” as The Canadian Press reported.

“Making sure that we have the right person to lead our Armed Forces in this pivotal time was something that I think Canadians appropriately felt that we needed to take seriously, which we did,” Trudeau said at the time.

The Armed Forces is in a transition phase as there are ongoing efforts to change the culture internally and continue to rebuild dwindling ranks. It’s estimated the CAF is short approximately 16,500 troops after years of failure to recruit and retain more members than it has lost to retirement or release. In March, Defence Minister Bill Blair called the situation a “death spiral.”

Carignan replaces Gen. Wayne Eyre as chief of the defence staff, who retired after serving in the role since 2021.

However, she inherits a military that some say is in a state of crisis.

“I think the most important problem of lack of personnel (is) that (it) is impacting readiness at a high level,” said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

On Thursday, Carignan acknowledged the challenges she faces in her new role.

“We consistently have those challenges as military forces across the world. Evolving military forces over time is what we do,” Carignan said. “My job as CDS is to translate Canadians’ investment, what Canadians decide to invest in their defence into readiness and into capacity.”

Carignan also said recruitment is her most important priority.

“The priority is to make sure that we welcome a whole range of Canadian expertise and quality people to ensure that we have the people we need to render our forces ready,” Carignan said.

“Yes, the equipment is part of it, but we will need to get people in, train them so that they can actually effect all of these changes also that we want to do within the institution.”

Duval-Lantoine is also concerned about the “glass cliff” facing Carignan. The term refers to situations where women are promoted to higher positions in a time of crisis where the chance of failure is more likely.

“The threat environment is becoming more and more difficult, and we’re seeing it approaching Canada, from coast to coast to coast. We have fewer and fewer service members being able to service all the capabilities that we’re acquiring right now,” Duval-Lantoine told CTV News in an interview.

Carignan’s predecessor previously described these issues as “crises stacked upon crises.”

“The military that we have right now is not ready to counter the threats that we see coming,” Eyre told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos.

Those who have met Carignan say her kindness and willingness to listen, while also being able to have those difficult conversations, set her apart from other leaders.

“Having a chief of the defence staff that listens to the concern of its members might be what we get ahead,” Duval-Lantoine said.

Carignan takes over just as the Trudeau government said Canada would meet its NATO spending commitment of two per cent of GDP by 2032. The federal defence policy released in April included overall investments of $8.1 million over five years and $73 billion over 20 years.

That financial support should help the new CDS, who will also be buoyed by the moral support from those who have come before her.

“I think she has an army of supporters out there that will just back her and cheer her on,” Perron said.