For months, Canadians have had their eyes locked on the border, anxiously anticipating what fresh, destabilizing hell America’s mercurial president will visit upon us next. Way up north, meanwhile, another turf war is brewing as Russia, China and, yes, the U.S. slowly encroach on Canada’s third (and largest) coast. As global warming melts our natural icy defences—opening up new shipping routes and access to critical minerals—we’ve been forced to find new ways to protect our Arctic interests. That’s Jennie Carignan’s territory.
Carignan, appointed last summer as the chief of the defence staff (its first female in the role), is no stranger to danger. She helped defuse land mines in Bosnia’s farm fields, kept the peace in the Golan Heights and led NATO forces in Iraq during her trailblazing three-decade career in the Canadian Armed Forces. Now, General Carignan—and the nearly 95,000 military members under her command—faces threats on a few fronts: online (disinformation), on Earth (new tensions with our oldest ally) and in space (if you can process that).
I spoke with Carignan recently for an interview for Maclean’s and learned that she’s on track to hit her recruitment quota for the year—a sign that she’s not the only one interested in defending Canada these days.
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—Katie Underwood, managing editor, Maclean’s
