IMPROVING DIVERSITY and INCLUSION in the CANADIAN ARMED FORCES Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence
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IMPROVING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence Stephen Fuhr, Chair JUNE 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. 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For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the House of Commons website at the following address: www.ourcommons.ca IMPROVING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence Stephen Fuhr Chair JUNE 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION NOTICE TO READER Reports from committee presented to the House of Commons Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENCE CHAIR Stephen Fuhr VICE-CHAIRS James Bezan Randall Garrison MEMBERS Serge Cormier (Parliamentary Secretary – Non Voting Member) Julie Dzerowicz Darren Fisher Cheryl Gallant Mark Gerretsen Stéphane Lauzon (Parliamentary Secretary – Non Voting Member) Richard Martel Yves Robillard Sven Spengemann OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Rachel Blaney Shaun Chen Cheryl Hardcastle Igra Khalid Hon. Erin O’Toole Pierre Paul-Hus Jean R. Rioux Mark Warawa CLERKS OF THE COMMITTEE Jean-Marie David Elizabeth Kingston iii LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Martin Auger, Analyst Katherine Simonds, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENCE has the honour to present its SEVENTEENTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied diversity within the Canadian Armed Forces and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 1 IMPROVING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES ........... 7 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Part A: The State of Diversity in the Canadian Armed Forces ........................................ 8 A. Diversity Targets and Status ........................................................................................... 8 B. Diversity and Inclusion: a Force Enabler ................................................................ 12 C. An Evolving Diversity Framework ............................................................................. 15 1. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda ....................................................... 17 2. Operation HONOUR ................................................................................................ 19 3. The Diversity Strategy ........................................................................................... 21 4. Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada’s Defence Policy ...................................... 22 D. Policy into Practice .......................................................................................................... 23 Part B: Key Challenges for Diversity in the Canadian Armed Forces: Recruitment, Retention and Sexual Misconduct............................................................... 23 A. Recruitment ........................................................................................................................ 24 1. New Recruitment Strategies ............................................................................... 24 2. Diversity and Recruitment in Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities ............................................................................................................. 26 3. Recruitment and Diversity in Urban Centres ............................................... 28 4. Reserve Force Recruitment ................................................................................. 29 B. Retention ............................................................................................................................. 30 1. Career Progression and Family Supports ...................................................... 31 2. Spiritual and Cultural Traditions ...................................................................... 34 C. Operation HONOUR ......................................................................................................... 36 1. The Sexual Misconduct Response Centre ...................................................... 38 vii 2. Tracking and Reporting ........................................................................................ 41 3. Process for Reporting and Disclosing Instances of Sexual Misconduct ................................................................................................................. 42 4. Addressing the CAF’s “Sexualized Culture” ................................................... 45 Part C: Cultural Change, Diversity and Inclusion ............................................................. 47 A. Using Gender-Based Analysis+ ................................................................................... 49 B. Facilitating Diversity Training and Education ...................................................... 51 C. Engaging Men ..................................................................................................................... 52 D. Holding Senior Leadership Accountable ................................................................. 53 E. Collecting Data ................................................................................................................... 54 F. Creating Support Networks .......................................................................................... 55 Conclusion and Recommendations ....................................................................................... 57 APPENDIX A: CANADIAN ARMED FORCES COMPOSITION AS OF FEBRUARY 2018 63 APPENDIX B: REPRESENTATION OF CERTAIN DESIGNATED GROUPS IN THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES ............................................................................................................ 65 APPENDIX C: LIST OF WITNESSES ............................................................................................... 67 APPENDIX D: LIST OF BRIEFS ........................................................................................................ 69 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ................................................................................ 71 viii LIST OF ACRONYMS CAF Canadian Armed Forces CDS Chief of the Defence Staff CFAO Canadian Forces Administrative Order DND Department of National Defence DoD Department of Defense (United States) EAPC Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council GBA+ Gender-Based Analysis Plus LGBTQ2 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Two-Spirit OAG Office of the Auditor General of Canada OPHTAS Operation HONOUR Tracking and Analysis System NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NDDN House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence NZDF New Zealand Defence Force RMC Royal Military College of Canada SMRC Sexual Misconduct Response Centre STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics UN United Nations UNSCR United Nations Security Council Resolution WPS Women, Peace, and Security ix LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports