Canadian military chief defends women's role in fight against US commentary – National

Canada's top general firmly rejected the idea of ​​dropping women from combat roles – a position promoted by US President Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary – at a security forum underway in Halifax on Saturday.

General Jennie Carignan, chief of the defense staff, responded yesterday to Republican Senator James Risch's comments at the Halifax International Security Forum about Pete Hegseth's opposition to women in combat units.

Asked about Hegseth's record of opposing women in these roles, Risch told the roughly 300 delegates that “the jury is still out” on how to handle the “unique situations” that come with having women in combat, adding that it was ultimately up to the military to decide the issue.

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Carignan said that after 39 years as a combat officer who risked her life for her country, she “cannot believe that in 2024 we still have to justify the contribution of women … in the service of their country.”

To a standing ovation, she also said she didn't want anyone to leave the forum thinking women are “a distraction to defense and national security.”

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Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan is making history as Canada's first female chief of defense staff

Hegseth, a former military officer who is a regular commentator on Fox News, has said in his book and in interviews that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units.

On November 7, he told an American podcast that having women in combat roles has not made the units more effective or lethal, but has “made the fighting more complicated.”

He has said women have a place in the military, but not in special operations, artillery, infantry and armor units.