The Canadian Armed Forces are the unified military forces of Canada, including land, sea, and air commands referred to as the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The CAF also operates several other commands, including the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, the Canadian Joint Operations Command, and the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.
Carolyn Ann Bennett is a Canadian physician and politician. A member of the Liberal Party, she represented Toronto—St. Paul's in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2024, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of Paul Martin and Justin Trudeau. She was the minister of state for public health from 2003 to 2006, the minister of Crown–Indigenous relations from 2015 to 2021 and the minister of mental health and addictions from 2021 to 2023. Prior to entering politics, Bennett worked as a family physician for 20 years.
Gale S. Pollock is a retired United States Army major general who served as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States Army from October 2006 to March 2007, and also as chief of the Army Nurse Corps. She became acting Surgeon General of the United States Army for nine months following the 20 March 2007 retirement of her predecessor, Kevin C. Kiley, due to fallout from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal. She was the first woman and the first non-physician to hold the position.
Krystina Helena Jaczek is a Canadian physician and politician. A member of the Liberal Party, she currently represents the riding of Markham—Stouffville in the House of Commons and formerly served as the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Receiver General for Canada.
Marilyn McHarg, is a humanitarian executive. She was President and CEO of Dignitas International, as well as a founding member and General Director of the Canadian section of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) / Doctors Without Borders, the world's leading independent medical humanitarian organization.
Nancy J. Lescavage is a retired American rear admiral who served as the 20th director of the Navy Nurse Corps and was the commander of Naval Medical Education and Training Command, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brigadier General Robin Umberg, Deputy Commander Clinical Services 3rd Medical Command, is one of several female United States Army general officers.
Brigadier General Carmelita Vigil-Schimmenti is a retired officer of the United States Air Force, who in 1985 became the first Hispanic female to attain the rank of Brigadier General. Vigil-Schimmenti was the Chief of the United States Air Force Nurse Corps, Office of the Surgeon General; Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
Jean-Robert Bernier, OMM, was the 38th Canadian Surgeon General and chief medical adviser to the North Atlantic Alliance as the 7th chairman of NATO's committee of Surgeons General (COMEDS).
Jennie Carignan is a lieutenant-general in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
Christine Theresa Whitecross, CMM, MSM, CD, is a Canadian retired lieutenant-general. A graduate of Queen's University and the Royal Military College of Canada, she has served in Germany, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. Whitecross has twice been named one of Canada's 100 most-powerful women. She was commandant of the NATO Defense College in Rome.
Merrilee K. Fullerton is a Canadian physician and former politician who represented Kanata—Carleton in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 to 2023. A member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, Fullerton was the minister of training, colleges, and universities from 2018 to 2019, minister of long-term care from 2019 to 2021, and minister of children, community and social services from 2021 to 2023.
Rosemary Moodie is a Canadian neonatal physician who was appointed to the Senate of Canada on December 12, 2018. Moodie is a neonatologist at the Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto's Department of Pediatrics.
Flordeliz "Gigi" Osler is a Canadian Senator, physician, and assistant professor at the University of Manitoba. She was the 2018–2019 President of the Canadian Medical Association.
Nancy Malloy was a medical administrator and nurse for the British Columbian branch of the Canadian Red Cross. She participated in various international missions that took place at remote hospitals, often in dangerous areas. On December 17, 1996 she was murdered together with five of her colleagues when on a mission in Chechnya, Russia. Posthumously, she was awarded both the Florence Nightingale Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Alex Ruff is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 federal election and re-elected in the 2021 Canadian federal election. He is a retired Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
Jennifer Wylie-Russell is a Canadian physician and the current Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Brunswick brought her widespread visibility.
Operation Laser is a domestic operation of the Canadian Armed Forces for contingency planning and response in the event of a pandemic. Its three goals are: protecting CAF personnel and capability, assessing CAF capabilities to respond to a pandemic, and assisting other government departments in the event of a pandemic.
Eatonville Care Centre is a privately owned long-term care facility in the Eatonville area of Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As of 2020, it is owned by Rykka Care Centres. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was particularly hard-hit, with 142 resident cases and 40 resident deaths. A report by the Canadian Armed Forces — who had been deployed to the facility, to assist — recorded "aggressive behaviour" by staff and drugging of residents that the Forces deemed unnecessary.
Jeannine M. Ryder is a U.S. Air Force major general; commander of the Air Force Medical Agency, Defense Health Headquarters, Falls Church, Virginia; and chief of the Air Force Nurse Corps.
