Thank you very much for that question. I'll try to keep it as succinct as possible.
What you're speaking about is this idea of cultural competence training, which actually has received a lot of criticism over the years, because we've come to realize that no one can be competent in another culture. You can be aware, but you can't gain competence. That's why my recommendations are more towards diversifying the pool of officers, so that those who have an already existing understanding and awareness of another culture can provide their experience and their expertise.
It's not for not having enough of these people in the department. We clearly know from the Pollara report that the diversity is okay. I heard this even yesterday in a meeting. I heard from somebody working in IRCC that the composition of the department appears to be diverse. The problem is that the people in the decision-making roles are not from those cultures and those regions. The people who have the power in making the decision aren't culturally aware.
This is why, in my recommendations about training, I'm quite skeptical of training, because you can't really train someone in someone else's culture, but what you can do is train them in an awareness. Something that I was going to say but didn't have time for is that, for these training modules that we have online—these diversity, equity and inclusion training modules—people just click to the next, the next and the next. They don't actually retain any information. It's very easy to get trained and get a certificate but really know nothing about what you've just read.
My recommendation is for engaged training, which is more in the workshop-style. You have people who are conversing with other people with other lived experiences, where you're posed ethical questions. As a professor, that's what I do in my classroom. I pose ethical questions that make people think outside the box, and by the end of the session they understand a little better the other perspective.
Again, due to the pandemic, I feel that ideas and perspectives are even more polarized. People are even more so on two ends, on two extremes. The only way that we can come together is if we are engaged in discussion in the same room, on the same web session, but in conversation, rather than in some training module online.
I hope that answers the question.