CANADA | Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine appointed as the new Veterans Ombudsperson

Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine served almost 37 years as an officer in the Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (RCEME). She enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in 1982 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada with a Bachelor of Science in Math and Physics.

She has served and led in Maintenance organizations with the Army in Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Gagetown, the Navy in CFB Esquimalt, and the Air Force at 19 Wing Comox. She commanded the RCEME School in 2008-2010. She was promoted to Colonel in 2014 and served one year as Director Armament Sustainment Program Management before her final posting as Deputy Commandant at Canadian Forces College. She completed her service in May 2019.

She has completed several important professional development courses including both the Army and the Canadian Forces Staff College programs. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College, and most recently earned the Chartered Director designation.

Other notable staff appointments include RCEME Officers Career Manager, Staff Officer to the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, Program Officer National Security Studies Program, Deputy Project Manager Medium Support Vehicle System, and the senior staff officer responsible for the strategic sustainment of the Joint Task Force for Operation ATHENA in Afghanistan.

Since leaving the CAF, she has served on the Board of Directors of the Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston, the Board of Governors of the Air Cadet League Ontario Provincial Committee, the Board of Directors of the Order of St. George, and the Board of Directors for the RCEME Museum and Heritage Foundation.

Source: Office of the Veterans Ombudsman, Canada