Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan named Canada's newest chief of the defence staff

The federal government has named Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan as defence chief.

As CBC News first reported last week, Carignan's appointment makes her the first woman to hold the Canadian Armed Forces' top job. She is currently the military's chief of professional conduct and culture, a position created following the sexual misconduct crisis.

Several high-ranking leaders were forced to step down from their posts after they were accused of sexual misconduct in 2021.

The resulting scandal prompted a damning external report by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour that made a series of recommendations to change the toxic culture within the Armed Forces. Carignan has been the face of the efforts to reform that culture, providing updates to the public about efforts to implement those recommendations.

Carignan joined the military in 1986. She has commanded combat engineer regiments and led troops responding to floods in Quebec.

In 2008, she became the first woman to lead a combat force 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 yearlong NATO mission in Iraq that ended in late 2020.

Her official biography also notes that she has four children, including two who are members of the Armed Forces.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Montreal on Wednesday that naming the new defence chief was an «extraordinarily important choice.»

«Particularly in these moments of complicated geopolitics and increased threats, particularly to our Arctic,» he said.

«Making sure that we have the right person to lead our Armed Forces in this pivotal time was something that I think Canadians appropriately