I know many women military officers who want to deploy and have complained that they've tried for more than half a decade. There is a large group. Women make up approximately 16% of our military, so I don't think it's a question of resources.
I've spoken with almost every CDS in the last 20 years to ask why and to push for more peacekeeping. What I generally get is risk aversion. They don't want to deploy in some areas. I spoke with CDS Vance, and he didn't want to put women north of South Sudan because it is so dangerous there. That's what he said to me.
It's very much a sense of where it is in their military priorities. I've been scratching my head for 20 years. I came back to Canada from the United States because I wanted to contribute to Canadian peacekeeping because it had been such an important factor. The disappointment of seeing Canada be reduced from number one to now number 67 has hit me. I'm always trying to understand that. I'm thinking of writing a book about it. The primary factor is that there is a reluctance from the Canadian Armed Forces. There's more risk aversion, and there isn't the political will to push to make sure that it happens.
I know I can get in trouble for saying this, but it is my best assessment after a decade of trying to figure out this problem.