Top military job for New Waterford man
OTTAWA — Canada’s new top military commander is originally from New Waterford.
Admiral Art McDonald took over the chief of defence staff position from General Jonathan Vance Thursday during a virtual Change of Command of the Canadian Armed Forces ceremony in Ottawa.
“Today I feel privileged to have been appointed chief of the Defence Staff for Canada,” said McDonald, who thanked Vance for his service.
He also thanked his family for their support.
McDonald was born in New Waterford in 1967. Before becoming Chief of the Defence Staff, he commanded the Royal Canadian Navy from 2019 to 2021. He has previously commanded at the ship (HMCS Halifax 20072009), operations group/fleet and formation levels.
A 1990 graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada who holds a bachelor’s degree in Military and Strategic Studies and a Master of Defence Studies degree, McDonald is a graduate of the 2003 Canadian Forces College (CFC) Command and Staff Course, the 2012 CFC National Security Studies Programme, and the 2014 U.S. CAPSTONE General and Flag Officer Course.
A 2016 alumnus of the AsiaPacific Centre for Security Studies, he is also a graduate of the Senior Executives in National and International Security program at Harvard University (2017).
In addition, he became an above water warfare specialist in the early 1990s, operating much of the next two decades as a sea-going officer while serving on the HMCS ships Vancouver, Halifax, Montreal and Calgary. He has completed three Arabian Gulf and one Adriatic Sea tours as well as being the Maritime Component
Commander of the Canadian Joint Task Force (Haiti), leading sea-based humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
“The adventure has begun,” McDonald said during Thursday's ceremony. “We still have much to do to implement Canada's defence policy and we will do that together.”
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) has direct responsibility for the control and administration of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The CDS is accountable to the minister of National Defence for the conduct of all CAF activities, as well as for the readiness and the ability to fulfill military commitments and obligations undertaken by the government.
The change of command comes when the Canadian Armed Forces are part of a whole-of-government approach to national COVID-19 response efforts.