Surgeon General (Canada)

The Surgeon General is the professional head of the Canadian military health jurisdiction, the adviser to the Minister of National Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff on all matters related to health, and head of the Royal Canadian Medical Service. The Surgeon General is also the Commander of Canadian Forces Health Services Group, which fulfils all military health system functions from education and clinical services to research and public health. It consists of the Royal Canadian Medical Service and the Royal Canadian Dental Corps, with health professionals from over 40 occupations and specialties in over 120 units and detachments across Canada and abroad. As Director General Health Services, the Surgeon General is also the senior health services staff officer in the Department of National Defence. The Surgeon General is normally the only Canadian appointed to the Medical Household as Honorary Physician (QHP) or Honorary Surgeon (QHS) to Her Majesty the Queen.^[1][2]

Canada’s first Surgeon General was Colonel Darby Bergin, a prominent surgeon who was also Member of Parliament for Cornwall, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, founder of the 1st Volunteer Militia Rifle Company of Cornwall, and first Commanding Officer of the 59th Stormont and Glengarry Battalion of Infantry (now the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders). Selected by the Minister of Militia and Defence, the Honourable Sir Adolphe Caron, to organize the Northwest Field Force medical services during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, Colonel Darby’s own proposed appointment as medical Director General was upgraded by the Minister to Surgeon General.^[3][4][5][6]

Major-General the Honourable Sir Eugène Fiset KT, CMG, DSO, ED, GGHS, BA, MB, MD, MS was the first Surgeon General after the establishment of the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1904 (renamed the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1919) to bring all military health personnel under unified command. Appointed Director General Medical Services as a Colonel in 1903, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Militia and Defence in 1906 and promoted to Surgeon General in 1914. After retirement in 1923, he was elected Member of Parliament for Rimouski and appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec in 1939.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

Major-General KA Hunter OBE, CD, QHP, MD was the first Surgeon General following the 1959 integration of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps with the smaller medical services of the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force to form the unified Canadian Forces Medical Service, renamed the Royal Canadian Medical Service in 2013.^[12][13]

List of Surgeons General or Equivalent Appointments

Surgeon General of the Militia Medical Services^[14]

Lieutenant-Colonel (later Colonel) Darby Bergin Apr 1885

Director General of the Army Medical Department^[15]

Colonel JLH Neilson Feb 1898

Director General of Medical Services^{[16][17][18][19]}

Colonel (later Major-General) Sir MJC Eugène Fiset Jul 1903, promoted to Surgeon General Dec 1914

Colonel (later Major-General) Guy Carleton Jones Dec 1906, promoted to Surgeon General Sep 1915

Major-General JT Fotheringham Nov 1917

Major-General Gilbert LaF. Foster Mar 1920

Colonel JW Bridges Jun 1921

Colonel HM Jacques Apr 1925

Colonel JT Clarke Jun 1930

Colonel AE Snell Sep 1933

Colonel JL Potter Jul 1936

Brigadier RM Gorssline Nov 1939

Major-General GB Chisolm Sep 1942 (Note 1)

Major-General CP Fenwick Jan 1945 (Note 1)

Brigadier CS Thompson Mar 1946 (Note 1)

Brigadier WL Coke Oct 1947 (Note 1)

Brigadier (later Major-General) KA Hunter Nov 1952 (Note 1)

Brigadier SGU Shier Mar 1956 (Note 1)

Brigadier P Tremblay Oct 1958 (Note 1)

Note 1: DGMS Canadian Army and Joint Medical Services. The medical services of the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force were led by separate Directors General from 1940 to 1959.^[20][21]

Surgeon General of the Canadian Forces^[22][23]

Major-General KA Hunter OBE, CD, QHP, MD Jan 1959

Surgeon Rear-Admiral TB McLean CD, QHS, MD Jan 1960

Surgeon Rear-Admiral WJ Elliot CD, QHS, MD, CM Sep 1964

Major-General DGM Nelson CD, QHS, MD, DPH, FACPM Jul 1968

Major-General JWB Barr CMM, CD, QHP, MD, CM, DHA Jul 1970

Rear-Admiral RH Roberts CD, QHP, MD, FRCPC, FACP Sep 1973

Major-General WG Leach CMM, CD, QHP, BA, MD Apr 1976

Major-General VA McPherson CD, QHS, BA, MD, FRCSC Aug 1980

Major-General Robert Dupuis CMM, CD, QHP, BA, MD, CSPQ, FRCPC Jul 1982

Major-General RW Fassold CD, QHP, BSc, MD Sep 1985

Rear-Admiral CJ Knight CMM, CD, QHP, BA, MD Jan 1988

Major-General JJ Benoit CD, QHP, MD, FRCPC Aug 1990

Major-General P Morriset CMM, CD, QHP, MD, MHA Aug 1992

Major-General WA Clay CMM, CD, QHP, MD, MHSc Oct 1994

Brigadier-General C Auger CD, QHS, MD, FRCSC Jun 1998

Colonel SM Cameron OMM, CD, QHP, MD Jan 2000 (Note 2)

Brigadier-General HF Jaeger OMM, MSM, CD, QHP, BSc, MD, plsc, pcsc Jun 2004

Commodore HW Jung OMM, CD, QHP, MD, MA Jul 2009

Brigadier-General JJ-RS Bernier OMM, CD, QHP, BA, MD, MPH, DEH, FRCPC(hon), rmc, plsc Jul 2012^[24][25]

Note 2: Command and Director General responsibilities were held separately by Major-General MJL Mathieu CMM, CD, CHE (Jan 2000-Apr 2005) and Commodore MF Kavanagh OMM, CD, MD, MHA, CHE (Apr 2005-Jul 2007)^[26][27][28]

References