Admiral Girouard Street was dedicated by the Canada Lands Company on December 10, 2013, as part of their redevelopment of Edmonton’s former Canadian Forces Base (Griesbach Barracks).
A Montréal native, Rear Admiral (Retd) Roger Girouard began his nautical career of service at HMCS Carlton in Ottawa as a Naval Reserve Ordinary Seaman Boatswain in 1973, before shifting to the permanent force and taking a commission as a Maritime Surface officer. He held a variety of leadership positions including Commanding Officer of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships Chaleur, Miramichi and Iroquois, Commander Maritime Operations Group Four in Esquimalt, British Columbia, and Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific.
He deployed on a number of operations including North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Standing Naval Force Atlantic and Canada’s Operation Friction during the Gulf War of 1990-91. He was the head of operations in Halifax during the domestic emergency coined as Operation Persistence - the Canadian Armed Forces element of the SwissAir 111 salvage and recovery operation off Peggy’s Cove in 1998, when he was responsible for planning the Canadian Armed Forces element’s efforts, chaired the daily multi-agency coordination meeting and served as Canadian Armed Forces liaison to the families of the victims. He commanded Canada’s joint force contribution to Operation Toucan in East Timor and led the multi-national naval Task Force 151 during Operation Apollo in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in 2003.
His last appointment was as Commander Joint Task Force Pacific and Maritime Forces Pacific in Victoria, where he was responsible for naval readiness in the Pacific, served as the Search and Rescue Commander for the Region and held responsibilities for security and domestic emergency issues in British Columbia, supporting planning for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the contingency work for potential flooding of the British Columbia lower mainland in the Spring of 2007.
Experienced in offshore operations, joint and interagency missions, disaster management as well as the realm of HR management, he retired from the Canadian Forces in September of 2007. He was sought out to complete the Canadian Coast Guard Inquiry into the tragic sinking of the L'Acadien II, a sealing vessel home ported in the Magdalen Islands. He assumed responsibilities as the Canadian Coast Guard’s Assistant Commissioner for Western Region in May of 2013.