Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Perron.
I will be making my presentation in English, but I can answer questions in French.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me.
I am Kristine St-Pierre, director of the WPS Group, which brings together consultants with expertise in gender equality and women, peace and security. Over the past several years, we've been providing specific women, peace and security training to Canadian police officers deploying to international missions. Other work includes conducting gender assessments and developing organizational gender strategies.
I'm also here in my capacity as a member of the steering committee of the Women, Peace and Security Network—Canada, a volunteer network of more than 70 Canadian non-governmental organizations and individuals. The network is committed to two things: promoting and monitoring the efforts of the Government of Canada to implement and support the UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security, and providing a forum for exchange and action by Canadian civil society on issues related to women, peace and security.
Over the last few years, the network has been a key interlocutor with the Government of Canada when it comes to the implementation of its national action plan. I've also submitted the network's 2016 DND policy review submission as evidence to the committee.
The views I will present today are my own; however, they include consultations with colleagues, and they are informed by ongoing research and analysis conducted by the Women, Peace and Security Network—Canada.
One of the Canadian Armed Forces diversity strategy objectives is to “inculcate a culture of diversity”, which the strategy says “is to develop the military's organizational culture to be more inclusive and respectful which will demonstrate to Canadian society that the CAF truly values and embraces diversity.” I will focus my remarks today on two considerations related to that objective of inculcating a culture of diversity.
My first consideration relates to the need for an overall policy that encompasses both gender equality and diversity perspectives. DND and the Canadian Armed Forces have set out multiple commitments related to equity, equality and diversity. These include the Employment Equity Act, the legislative commitment to engage in proactive employment practices to increase representation of the four designated groups, including women; commitments under Operation Honour, which seeks to eliminate harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour in the Canadian military; the diversity strategy, aiming to “recognize, embrace and actively promote diversity as a core CAF institutional value”; commitments as part of the defence plan 2018-2023, to incorporate gender perspectives into defence planning, policy and operations; and commitments under the Canadian national action plan on women, peace and security, which focuses on improved governance, training and education, accountability, recruitment, and the integration of gender perspectives into CAF operations.
While these commitments have distinct objectives, they overlap in important ways. The success of Operation Honour in working toward creating an environment that is safe from sexual harassment and discrimination is crucial to the ability of the CAF to recruit more women and more members of diverse groups. The ability to recruit more women is crucial in fulfilling our commitments under the Canadian national action plan on women, peace and security. This national action plan, in turn, provides an important tool for DND and the CAF to incorporate gender perspectives as part of defence planning, policy and operations abroad.
What I believe is needed is an overarching policy framework that defines the full range of commitments relating to gender equality and diversity, including the implementation of the Deschamps report and Operation Honour; Canada's commitments under its national action plan on women, peace and security; commitments related to increased diversity of the CAF, including greater participation by women; using the gender-based analysis plus across policy and operations; and eliminating sexist and homophobic attitudes and practices.
Doing so would be beneficial in several ways. It would ensure greater coherence among the different commitments, as well as among different units and offices within DND and CAF. It would clarify the importance placed on the various commitments, and the linkages among them. It would also facilitate communication at all levels on these matters and send a stronger signal to the public about DND and the CAF’s intentions with regard to equality and diversity.
More importantly, doing so would also send a strong message of support to transformational change in the CAF’s approach to its work—a message that says we’re not only bringing new faces to do the same job, but we view this as an opportunity to change the way it’s always been done—and a willingness to examine the very structures it brings women and other diverse groups into.
My second consideration relates to the need to work towards greater diversity in the CAF, not only because it will make the CAF more effective but also because it’s a matter of equality.
The diversity strategy states that, “as a matter of practice, policy and institutional culture, we recognize, embrace and actively promote diversity as a core CAF institutional value”. However, a quick search shows that both recent CAF statements and media articles related to the diversity strategy make the case for embracing diversity on the basis of improved effectiveness. To be clear, CAF is not the only actor whose message has focused on the benefits to operational effectiveness that diversity and gender perspectives bring.
There is extensive research, especially in other industries and the business community, demonstrating the benefit of a diverse workforce and of having more women in leadership positions. For example, research shows that diverse groups tend to be smarter and make better decisions than do homogeneous ones. Companies with more women in leadership positions tend to do better financially, and business units that are more gender-diverse have better financial outcomes. The U.S. Agency for International Development also notes that “eliminating workplace discrimination against women can increase productivity.” Research shared by the Harvard Business Review shows that corporate diversity leads to greater and faster innovation. In addition, a more diverse employee pool offers improved and more accurate thinking as well as better decision-making skills.
There is no denying that a Canadian soldier who speaks Pashto can be beneficial to an operation in Afghanistan, or that women soldiers may facilitate access to local women or conduct searches of women. But at the same time, it’s important not to lose sight of the human rights and gender equality imperative and ensure that we impart these values to all personnel. Only by doing so in a deliberate and sustained manner will we see a culture change within the Canadian Armed Forces.
Specifically, it is crucial that the pursuit of diversity and the integration of gender perspectives not lead to the instrumentalization of women’s rights. One member of the Women, Peace and Security Network-Canada, Margaret Jenkins, argues in a recent publication that focusing on operational effectiveness:
runs the risk of instrumentalizing women’s participation—the implication is that women are engaged in peace and security because of their distinctive contribution, and if they fail, it is because they were not effective.... Women should be full and equal participants in peace and security because they have a right to the same opportunities as men, not because of what can be potentially gained by their participation.
There are many variables that affect the success and impact of female participation and integration, including persistent gender attitudes and biases that are held by both men and women. It will be extremely difficult to address and change these deeply ingrained attitudes and biases against women and other diverse groups if we don’t instill equality and diversity as core institutional values from the beginning. It should be both the smart thing to do and the right thing to do.
To conclude, I would first like to acknowledge the important and ongoing work being conducted by DND and the CAF when it comes to equality and diversity. I would also like to acknowledge that the goal of inculcating a culture of diversity is a long-term process that will require sustained efforts by all members of the CAF, beginning with the leadership.
In saying that, I would like to end by calling on the importance of the defence community's learning to leverage gender expertise, which the military lacks, from civil society—such as from the Women, Peace and Security Network-Canada and others—to truly develop a nuanced understanding of how they should apply diversity and gender perspectives.
Thank you.