HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — The first woman to command Canada’s military called out a U.S. senator Saturday for questioning the role of women in combat.
General Jennie Carignan was responding to comments from Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the ranking member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was asked on Friday whether President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth , should retract the comments. he believes that men and women should not serve together in combat units.
“I think it’s delusional for anyone to disagree that women in combat create certain unique situations that need to be addressed. I think the jury is still out on how to do that,” Risch said Friday during a panel session at the Halifax International Security Forum.
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Carignan, Canada’s chief of defense staff and the first woman to command the armed forces of any Group of 20 or Group of Seven country, disputed those comments during a panel session on Saturday.
“If you will allow me, I might first respond to Senator Risch’s statement yesterday on women in combat, because I would not want anyone to leave this forum thinking that women are a distraction to defense and national security, Carignan said.
“After a 39-year career as a combat arms officer, risking my life in many operations around the world, I cannot believe that in 2024 we still have to justify the contribution of women to their defense and service, in their country. I wouldn’t want anyone to leave this forum thinking this is some kind of social experiment.”
Carignan said women have been participating in the struggle for hundreds of years, but have never received recognition for their fight for their country. She saw the female soldiers in the room.
“All the women who sit here in uniform and step in and decide to go into harm’s way and fight for their country should be recognized for that,” she said. “So again, this is the distraction, not the women themselves. .”
Carignan received a standing ovation at the forum, which attracts defense and security officials from Western democracies.
Hegseth has revived a debate that many thought had long been settled: should women be allowed to serve their country by fighting on the front lines?
The former Fox News commentator made clear in his own book and in interviews that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units. If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth could try to end the Pentagon’s nearly decade-old practice of opening all combat jobs to women.
Hegseth’s comments have led to a barrage of praise and condemnation.
Carignan was promoted to the rank of general during a change of command last summer after being chosen by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to become Canada’s first female defense chief.
Carignan is no stranger to firsts. She was also the first woman to command a combat unit in the Canadian Army, and her career included deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Syria.
For the past three years, she served as head of the Office of Professional Conduct and Culture, a job created as a result of the 2021 sexual misconduct scandal.
Her appointment this year comes as Canada continues to face criticism from NATO allies for not spending 2% of its gross domestic product on defense. The Canadian government recently said it will meet its NATO commitments by 2032.
Risch said Friday that Trump would laugh at Canada’s current military spending plans and said the country must do more.
