Canadian appointed to serve on Ukrainian Defence Reform Advisory Board

News Release

January 31, 2017 – Ottawa – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

General Jonathan Vance, the Chief of the Defence Staff, has appointed Jill Sinclair, a former Assistant Deputy Minister with the Department of National Defence (DND) and currently Executive Director, Directorate of Strategic Concepts, Leadership and Engagement at the Canadian Defence Academy, as the Canadian representative to the Ukrainian Defence Reform Advisory Board (DRAB).

Canada was informally invited to participate in the DRAB during Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s visit to Ukraine in 2016.This informal request was followed by an official invitation letter to MND for Canada to join the DRAB.

The DRAB has been established to provide a high level of expertise and recommendations to the Reform Committee as well as to the President of Ukraine, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, the Chief of General Staff – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and senior political leadership.

Since 2014, Canada has actively participated alongside North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in measure to maintain security and stability in Central and Eastern Europe — through partnering, training, exercises, and other operational tasks.

Quotes

“Former Assistant Deputy Minister Sinclair’s contributions to the Ukrainian defence reform further demonstrate our determination to support efforts by Ukraine to maintain sovereignty, security, and stability.”

Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of Defence

“I am confident in the ability of Jill Sinclair to support the Defence Reform Advisory Board. Her breadth of experience and depth of knowledge will be invaluable to our Ukrainian senior government and military colleagues.”

General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff

“I look forward to this valuable opportunity to be able to contribute to the Ukrainian Defence Reform Process. I am grateful to Chief of the Defence Staff Vance for his support and to Minister of National Defence Sajjan for accepting this opportunity to aid one of our European allies.”

Jill Sinclair, Canadian representative on the Ukrainian Defence Reform Advisory Board

Quick Facts

  • Ms. Sinclair served as Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy) with the Department of National Defence between 2008 and 2014. Prior to this, she had an extensive career with the Privy Council Office and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
  • Ukraine is initiating institutional reforms of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. To advance this process, Ukraine is establishing a Ministry of Defense (MoD) Reform Committee aimed at carrying out planning, organization, implementation, and control of reforms.

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Contacts

Media Relations
Department of National Defence
Phone: 613-996-2353
Toll-Free: 1-866-377-0811
Email: mlo-blm@forces.gc.ca


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