HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — The first woman to command Canada's military called out a U.S. senator on Saturday for questioning the role of women in combat.
Gen. Jennie Carignan responded to comments made by Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was asked on Friday whether President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, should retract comments that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units.
“I think it’s delusional for anybody to not agree that women in combat creates certain unique situations that have to be dealt with. I think the jury’s still out on how to do that," Risch said during a panel session at the Halifax International Security Forum on Friday.
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, took issue with those remarks during a panel session on Saturday.
"If you’ll allow me, I would first like maybe to respond to Senator Risch’s statement yesterday about women in combat because I wouldn’t want anyone to leave this forum with this idea that women are a distraction to defense and national security," Carignan said.
“After 39 years of career as a combat arms officer and risking my life in many operations across the world, I can’t believe that in 2024, we still have to justify the contribution of women to their defense and to their service, in their country. I wouldn’t want anyone to leave this forum with this idea that this is that it is some kind of social experiment.”
Carignan said women have participating in combat for hundreds of years but have never been recognized for fighting for their country. She noted the women military personnel in the room.
“All the women sitting here in uniform, stepping in, and deciding to get into harm’s way and fight for their country, need to be recognized for doing so," 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 reignited a debate that many thought had been long settled: Should women be allowed to serve their country by fighting on the front lines?
The former Fox News commentator made it clear, in his own book and in interviews, that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units. If Hegseth is confirmed by the Senate, he could try to end the Pentagon’s nearly decade-old practice of making all combat jobs open to women.
Hegseth’s remarks have generated a barrage of praise and condemnation.
Carignan was promoted to the rank of general during the change-of-command ceremony this past 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 military, and her career has included deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Syria.
For the last three years, she has been the chief of professional conduct and culture, a job created as a result of the sexual misconduct scandal in 2021.
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 that it would reach its NATO commitment by 2032.
Risch said Friday Trump would laugh at Canada’s current military spending plans and said the country must do more.
Attendees applaud Canada's Chief of Defense Staff at The Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. (AP Photo/Rob Gillies) (AP Photo/Rob Gillies)
FILE - Gen. Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defense Staff, participates in a media availability after a change of command ceremony at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party headed for a victory Saturday in state elections in politically significant Maharashtra while the opposition won mineral-rich Jharkhand state.
Polling in the two states are seen as a test of Modi's popularity after his party returned to power in June national elections but was forced to form a coalition government with help from regional partners.
India’s Election Commission said Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies have already won 183 of 288 seats and were leading in another 48 seats in Maharashtra, India’s wealthiest state and home to the country's financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai.
The opposition Congress party and its allies have won 50 of 81 seats and were leading in another four seats in eastern Jharkhand state, according to the commission. It said vote counting was nearing completion and final results were expected later on Saturday.
Modi's BJP and a Hindu nationalist ally currently rule Maharashtra, where Hindus constitute nearly 80% and Muslims 11.5% of its 126 million people. An opposition alliance, including the Congress party, is in power in eastern Jharkhand state.
The BJP has used slogans such as, “If you divide, then you will die,” and “If we are united, then we are safe,” to attract majority Hindu votes. The opposition accused it of trying to polarize voters along Hindu-Muslim religious lines.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi from Congress party, the 52-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, is set to make her debut in Parliament after winning the race against a Communist Party candidate by a huge margin of over 400,000 votes in the Wayanad seat in southern Kerala state.
She contested a special election after her brother Rahul, who was elected in two constituencies in June, had to vacate one. Her mother Sonia Gandhi is already in Parliament.
The BJP had hoped to attract women with a plan that provides 1,500 rupees ($18) a month to over 20 million women in the 21-65 age group whose annual family income is less than 250,000 rupees ($3,010). The Congress party promised women double that amount and free transportation in government buses.
The opposition also hoped to capitalize on the simmering disaffection with high youth unemployment, inflation and low crop prices during the BJP’s rule.
In September, Congress was able to secure votes in India’s insurgency-wracked Jammu and Kashmir after a 10-year gap. But Modi’s BJP regained momentum in October and won the Haryana state election even though pollsters had predicted an easy victory for Congress.
Bharatiya Janata Party supporters shower confetti and flower petals as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, center, arrives to address them at the party headquarters after wining the state elections in politically significant Indian state of Maharashtra, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo)
Bharatiya Janata Party supporters shower confetti and flower petals as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, center, arrives to address them at the party headquarters after wining the state elections in politically significant Indian state of Maharashtra, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo)
Bhartiya Janata Party worker celebrates after leading in Maharashtra state assembly elections outside party office in Mumbai, India, Saturday, Nov 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
Bhartiya Janata Party workers celebrates after leading in Maharashtra state assembly elections in Mumbai, India, Saturday, Nov 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
A supporter of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha waves party flag while others burn firecrackers as they celebrate their party's win in state assembly election in Ranchi, in the Indian state of Jharkhand, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar)
Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, center, raises a fist at the Bhartiya Janata Party office in Mumbai, India, Saturday, Nov 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
Bhartiya Janata Party workers celebrates after leading in Maharashtra state assembly elections outside party office in Mumbai, India, Saturday, Nov 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
