generalspeaking

Anti-racism toolkit

Access easy-to-use, practical tools you can start using right now to support culture change within the Defence Team.

 

Glossary of terms: Anti-racism lexicon 

Consult a guide to help your understanding on some common words and terminologies to expand the quality of dialogue on race, equity and inclusion.

 

Anti-racism learning hub

Continue on your path to learning with a curated list of resources on anti-racism, equity, inclusion and diversity.

 

Help and assistance related to racism and racial discrimination

Resources available to find support or share your lived experiences of racism.

 

Combating Systemic Racism -- Department of National Defence, Canada

 

In 2022 the Canadian Armed Forces adjusted its standards for dress and grooming to the extent that no restrictions in hair length restrain their recruits from whatever flamboyant styles appeal to their psyche; hair length, style, colour. And nor are hoop earrings and ear spacers nor eyelash extensions forbidden for display on parade squares. Back then, Canada's head of the military, Wayne Eyre, boasted that Canada was "leading the way" on military dress codes for the 21st century.

 

"We have ... consulted with our allies, who have told us that we are several years ahead of them." Now, in 2025, no other nation's military can quite compete with Canada's military units -- fully bearded, green hair optional, facial piercings and full sideburns. Throughout laggardly Europe, the standard is banning beards entirely. In France with its freewheeling workplace dress codes French soldiers must shave before marching through Paris on Bastille Day.

 

And while most European militaries now accept openly transgender service members, along with policies protecting them from discrimination, with Poland the exception, recent signs are emerging that transgenderism even there they may no longer be disqualified from military service. The first woman to serve in front-line duty in Britain is trans; a soldier recruited while male, transitioning while in the service. Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia Biefang is a trans battalion commander in Germany's military. 

 

Canada easily trumps all of that in its military-wide mandate providing tampons in men's washrooms. They will be available regardless of whether any transgender men are present in the unit ... just in case. The military is not alone within Canada in the provision of female sanitary disposables in men's washrooms, considering the presence of a broader mandate that requires free tampons in all federally regulated workplaces.

 

It is mandatory to stock tampons beside the  urinals on all Canadian military bases and warships. 

 

True North  Source: Canada.ca

 

All major European Union and NATO militaries are now dedicated to "Diversity and inclusion", whereby soldiering in a 21st century Western military means attending at least one workshop related to the importance of diversity, equity or gender equality. An annual "diversity and inclusion" report tracking the gender, nationalities and ages of military staff is published by NATO. A "diversity and inclusion adviser" is stationed in every British army unit.

 

Gender advisers under the military acronym GENAD (GENder ADvisor) were posted to Haiti and Ukraine in the Canadian Armed Forces. Canada explicitly outlines the number of women and minorities it anticipates will wear Canadian military uniforms, setting hard targets for the number of non-male, non-white members it needs to recruit to reach its 'desired' totals in those categories. 

 

In 2018, the Department of Defence marked a 2026 diversity quotient where at least 11.8 percent of the military would be a visible minority; 3.5 percent to be Indigenous, and 25 percent reserved for women. Unfortunately these groups failed to cooperate in voluntarily seeking positions in the Canadian military at recruiting centres, leaving the military to blame systemic discrimination as the cause.  

"Racism in Canada is not a glitch in the system; it is the system."

"Colonialism and intersecting systems such as patriarchy, heteronormativity and ableism constitute the root causes of inequality within Canada."

Official Department of Defence report  

We . kid . you . knot!  

Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy

 

"The first thing I will do when I’m prime minister is to bring back a warrior culture, not a woke culture."

"We will be recruiting warriors to fight for this country. That will be the purpose."

"They will be here, to defend our homeland against danger and threats abroad. I can tell you, when you put out that clarion call, the young people of this nation will come rushing in and put on that uniform. I guarantee it."

Leader of the Official Conservative Opposition, Pierre Poilievre