Evidence of meeting #146 for Status of Women in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was military.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, The WPS Group
Are you asking what the Government of Canada's target is?
Director, The WPS Group
I don't think there's an actual target for the participation of Canadian women in peacekeeping operations, other than to increase their numbers.
The RCMP would say the situation is changing. It is, in fact, sending more and more women to take part in these operations. There may be a target I'm not aware of.
Liberal
As an Individual
I think it's important to recognize that it's not a random distribution of military members who deploy. If the decision is that we're sending a battle group for deployment, those are combat arms and women are 2% to 3%. Therefore, we need to look at—and this is a discussion that's going on across NATO—the composition of which CAF badges and which skill sets you need to deploy. If the military continues to focus on combat arms or other occupations, the numbers are not going to go up significantly.
Liberal
Eva Nassif Liberal Vimy, QC
According to the results of a 2018 Statistics Canada survey on sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces, the rate at which incidents were reported went from 28% in 2016 to 30% in 2018. The Canadian Armed Forces has a low reporting rate. What isn't it working? Why do you think the reporting rate hasn't increased more? Are women afraid to report misconduct?
Director, The WPS Group
Mr. Okros could probably answer that better than I could, but I would point to the tremendous stigma that still exists. Those who have successfully filed complaints have had to deal with negative feedback in the media, and that can be a deterrent.
Liberal
Director, The WPS Group
Yes, and it's even tougher in an organization like the armed forces.
Liberal
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
We're going to end this session now.
On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank you both for appearing today. We're going to suspend until a quarter to the hour, so we can change up our panels.
We are suspended.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Welcome back to the 146th meeting of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.
For the second hour, I am pleased to welcome Brigadier-General Virginia Tattersall, deputy commander, military personnel generation; Brigadier-General Lise Bourgon, defence champion for women, peace and security; Lisa Vandehei, director of gender, diversity and inclusion; and Sean Cantelon, who is the chief executive officer of the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services.
I'm going to turn the floor over to Brigadier-General Virginia Tattersal.
You have seven minutes to open.
Brigadier-General Virginia Tattersal Deputy Commander, Military Personnel Generation, Department of National Defence
Madam Chair and committee members, good morning. Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today about the treatment of women in the Department of National Defence, something I have both personal and professional experience with, having been a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for most of my life.
I am Brigadier-General Virginia Tattersall, and until last week, I was the commander of the military personnel generation group. This group, which we in the military like to call MILPERSGEN, is responsible for, among other things, recruiting, training and educating the future of the Canadian Armed Forces. I have some expertise in this area, and I will be happy to answer specific questions about the recruitment of women.
Diversity—and this includes representation of women—is of primary importance to the Canadian Armed Forces. This is not just so that the organization reflects our society—although that is important—but it is also because diversity ensures we are drawing from the entirety of the Canadian talent pool and the richness of thought, capabilities and skills that comes along with it.
Women have served in Canada's military for over a century. It has not always been an easy road, but we, as an institution, continue to improve. As we identify issues, we endeavour to tackle them and find solutions, although perhaps not as expediently as some would like.
Today women and men may serve in any occupation they choose so long as they meet the enrolment criteria, and I'm proud to say we were one of the first military forces in the world to allow women to serve in all occupations.
Why do women join the military? For the same reasons as men—the chance to serve their country; to have a respected, challenging and rewarding profession with good pay and benefits; and friendships that last a lifetime.
As you are aware, we have an institutional goal to have women make up at least 25.1% of the Canadian Armed Forces by 2026. It is an ambitious target, and we are making progress. As of January 2019 there were 1,316 more women in the Canadian Armed Forces compared with 2015.
The CAF recruiting strategy for women focuses on raising awareness of career opportunities. This is done through engagement in outreach, advertising, job postings, media partnerships, social media and individual recruiter efforts. National Defence has undertaken of late a number of specific initiatives to increase representation even further, including the Women in Force program—a trial at an experience of what it's like to serve in the military—and our efforts to re-enrol women who have previously released.
Our military colleges are playing a role in recruitment by giving priority to female applicants who meet enrolment standards, with women now making up 19.7% of the officer cadet population this past academic year. Most importantly, we continue through Operation Honour to reinforce respect and inclusivity, and combat negative culture that has subjected women and men to harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Currently, women are well represented in eight primary occupations, and we continue to work to increase representation across all occupations in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Madam Chair and members of the committee, the Canadian Armed Forces is an organization that recognizes excellence and welcomes all who want to pursue that as their personal goal, and we will continue to recruit and encourage more women to join the force. I am but one example of what a women can accomplish by serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. I would tell you that my own career has been rich with opportunities and experiences. Were I given the chance to do it again, I would not hesitate to do so.
Thank you for your attention. I'm pleased to answer any questions you may have of me.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Thank you very much.
We're now going to turn the floor over to Brigadier-General Lise Bourgon.
Go ahead. You have seven minutes.
Brigadier-General Lise Bourgon Defence Champion, Women, Peace and Security, Department of National Defence
Madam Chair and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to appear alongside my colleagues today, and thank you for your interest in this important topic.
It has been more than 30 years since I began my military life as a cadet at the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean. Since then, as an officer and a helicopter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, I have seen and experienced many of the unique challenges faced by women in the Canadian Armed Forces that you are hearing about in this study.
Nevertheless, I believe in the importance of the CAF and its mission, as well as its ability to learn and adapt as an institution. My career has provided me with the opportunities and experience that I could not have found anywhere else, and I still love coming to work every day. I joined the military to get a degree, and then I was going to quit and join the civilian forces. I had so much fun that I just forgot to quit, and I'm still here 32 years later.
In my current role as defence champion for women, peace and security, my interest is focused first and foremost on making us stronger and more effective in military operation. Beyond being a place of work for thousands of Canadians, DND and the CAF are important tools in Canada's effort to bring security, stability and humanitarian relief to fragile and conflict-affected places around the world.
To do this effectively in a modern operational context, the CAF must be able to understand how conflict and other crises affect populations of women, men, girls and boys differently, as well as how gender-related challenges can be exacerbated by, and even contribute to, security and humanitarian problems.
The 2017 national action plan on women, peace and security recognizes this requirement and calls for a coordinated approach across all Canadian efforts—both military and civilian—to improve security, promote gender equality and build sustainable peace.
As we finalize the progress report for fiscal year 2018-19, I am pleased with our degree of effort and success related to the following four pillars: governance and accountability, training and education, recruitment and retention, and integration into operations.
Since I am the deputy chief of operations at the Canadian Joint Operations Command and in my role as champion for women, peace and security, integration into operations is indeed my main focus area.
Of course, this operationally focused lens of women, peace and security is intrinsically linked to the more institutionally focused issues being studied by this committee, since to succeed in operations we must be supported by a strong institution and the right mix of people.
To support this target, the CAF must be able to engage with and understand all segments of a population, including those who may have difficulty interacting with a predominantly male military force.
This is why attracting, training and retaining adequate numbers of female CAF members in key roles and at all rank levels is so important. Beyond increasing the gender equality of our own workforce, which is a really worthy and important goal in itself, it also serves to make the CAF a better-prepared, more adaptable and more effective military force.
I look forward to this morning's discussion and would be happy to answer any questions about the importance of gender and gender perspectives in CAF operations.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Excellent. Thank you very much.
We're going to pass it over to Sean Cantelon for seven minutes.
Sean Cantelon Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, Department of National Defence
Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee.
The Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services works on behalf of the chief of the defence staff and under the authority of the Minister of National Defence. We provide morale and wellness programs and services that support the physical, mental and social well-being, and the financial well-being of the Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and their families.
As chief executive officer of the Canadian Forces welfare and morale services, my job is to ensure that our services and programs promote the operational readiness and effectiveness of the Canadian Armed Forces and contribute to the resiliency and self-sufficiency of Canadian Forces members and their families. We do this in a way that combines public and non-public funds in a social enterprise model.
Our activities cover a wide range of services, including retail sales, financial and insurance services, fitness and sports, recreation and family support. We also manage the Canadian Armed Forces' official charity, Support Our Troops.
The Canadian Forces morale and welfare services support prevention and response to gender-based violence in the Canadian Forces community in several ways.
First, as a funded partner of the federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence, military family services is implementing teams, at bases and wings across Canada, to provide education and to support those affected by violence. These teams are made up of both military and civilian specialists to provide a wide range of support services and programs, in a multidisciplined, holistic and collaborative way. This includes violence prevention, education and awareness tools, as well as survivor and perpetrator support services.
These teams include staff from the local military family resource centres, such as social workers, family liaison officers; Canadian Armed Forces health services staff, such as social workers, mental health nurses; the Military Police, which may include victim services; chaplains; and personnel support program health promotions. The teams also collaborate with professional health and social service workers from the civilian community to share expertise and increase awareness of community programs and services.
The importance of this initiative is also highlighted as initiative 22 in Canada's defence policy, “Strong Secure Engaged”. As part of this initiative, military family services has administered training on a broad range of gender-based violence topics to social workers who work directly with families and members. In fiscal year 2018-19, military family services provided $380,000 to local Canadian Armed Forces communities to implement activities, workshops and training targeting gender-based violence. Military family services operates a 24-7 family information line, with trained bilingual counsellors, to help support members and families who have been affected by violence. It offers the option of virtual short-term counselling sessions.
Under our personnel support division of the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, our health promotions team delivers the Respect in the CAF program. This is delivered directly to bases and wings across Canada. The aim of this program is to promote respect through awareness and understanding, empower CAF members to take a stand against sexual misconduct and educate CAF members on victim support. This program is executed in partnership with the Canadian Armed Forces strategic response team on sexual misconduct.
Another support option we offer for members and their families is the support our troops fund, operated by our non-public funds. This can offer financial assistance, in the form of emergency grants. Individuals who have been affected by violence can access funding for such things as emergency housing, transportation and essentials, such as food and gas.
The Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services will continue to work with all defence and community stakeholders to ensure that CAF members and their families affected by violence are supported. Our organization will continue to focus on education and prevention, while ensuring a variety of intervention services exists, so that those affected can determine how and where they will access support.
That concludes my comments.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Thank you very much.
I'm going to move over to Lisa Vandehei.
Lisa, you have seven minutes.
Lisa Vandehei Director of Gender, Diversity and Inclusion, Department of National Defence
Thank you very much.
Honourable members and Chairperson, thank you so much for having us here today. I'm pleased to be included in the meeting this morning.
My name is Lisa Vandehei. My role within the defence team is to provide expertise that assists in the implementation of gender-based analysis plus, GBA+. All of us here today work collaboratively towards a more diverse and inclusive defence environment.
Canada's defence policy makes a commitment to integrate GBA+ in all defence activities across the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence. The defence team is committed to institutionalizing the use of GBA+ so that we can make effective, equitable and evidence-based decisions. We're working to develop sustainable practices and systems that support our leadership to hold all accountable in conducting a GBA+ analysis, and to developing policies and programs that are informed by the findings of these analyses.
We are working to apply GBA+ in everything we do, from the things we buy, the buildings we build or maintain, our science and technology, our policies, practices, programs and projects. GBA+ is an analytical process to improve how things work for everyone in the defence team, and how the defence team affects others as well. This includes supporting culture change and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace designed for the people we want to attract and retain.
We've heard already that SSE recognizes that diversity and inclusion are indispensable capabilities that enable the defence team's ability to innovate, work locally and globally and ultimately successfully fulfill its mandate, but how exactly does it do that?
We know that diversity fosters innovation and creativity through a greater variety of problem-solving approaches, perspectives and ideas. People being able to bring their lived experiences to the table matters when you're trying to solve complex problems. A diversity of informed views enables objections and alternatives to be explored more efficiently and solutions to emerge more readily and be adopted with greater confidence. A defence team that reflects the Canadian population in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and all aspects of each of our lived experiences is better positioned to understand its changing security needs and develop winning solutions.
I'd like to share three key messages with the panel and chair today.
We've made progress and we're having a positive impact by conducting GBA+ analyses. Thus far, we've conducted GBA+ analyses or scans on approximately $40 billion in projects, programs and policies. This has led to some tangible changes and will lead to more.
For example, the MINDS program, which provides opportunities for collaboration between academia, the defence team and the defence and security expert community, now has GBA+ as a 20% rated criteria for funding. In another example, the Canadian Armed Forces provides an allotment of $160 per year towards the purchase of bras to help ensure comfort and safety at work. This allotment doubles during an overseas deployment. For the first time, this policy includes maternity and nursing bras and chest binders.
Our second message is that the institutionalization of GBA+ is a complex process. It's much more than raising awareness about inequality and issues of diversity and inclusion. It requires medium- and long-term planning to build a capability: to have skills, knowledge, leadership and access to relevant disaggregated data and research. We have a strong start. We have a full leadership support and have been allocated resources for this work.
Lastly, changing an organization's culture is one of the most difficult of leadership challenges. An organization's culture, we know, comprises interlocking sets of goals, roles, responsibilities, values, communications practices, attitudes and assumptions. GBA+ is a tool by which we can challenge all of these things and change the way we work. This is what we're doing.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Excellent. Thank you very much.
We're going to start off with our seven minutes of questioning. We'll start with Emmanuella Lambropoulos.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
Hello. I'd like to begin by thanking all of you for being here with us to answer our questions this morning.
I've heard about all of the great things that are happening within the department, but other witnesses have discussed a lot how culture is the main reason for what happens in the armed forces when it comes to how women can sometimes be treated and to sexual harassment and all of that stuff. Is there anything that happens on the ground to change the culture? Are there any programs that are currently in sight to help us get from where we are to a better place for women?
That question is for any of you.
BGen Virginia Tattersal
Perhaps I'll start by first explaining two pieces that I can speak to.
From a recruiting perspective, part of the pre-enrolment process includes actually educating those who are about to take the oath on our values, and certainly we have a number of ideas on how we can further expand that to reinforce how important those values are. When they arrive at our leadership and recruit school in Saint-Jean, they spend a total of 60 periods—or 40 hours out of the 10-week program—engaged in briefings, lectures and command engagement, all on the subject of Operation Honour, ethics and Canadian Armed Forces values, which is a fairly significant investment.
For structured training, that doesn't begin to identify that ongoing engagement and mentoring throughout their time at the recruit school by the staff, through their example, to reinforce to them the culture within the Canadian Armed Forces, recognizing, though, that the recruit school piece is your assimilation into the Canadian Armed Forces. We're taking you from being a civilian and getting you closer to being a trained member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
BGen Lise Bourgon
I'll just add from an operations perspective because I'll kind of focus my interactions today on the operations side.
We have gender-based analysis plus, but we also have a gender-based analysis planning aspect that our soldiers, airmen and sailors take before they deploy so that they better understand the application of a gender perspective in operation, on the ground, the difference, that balance. It's kind of throughout their career now. They get it from the beginning, the training aspect. They get it throughout their career, before deploying. We are changing that culture one day at a time at every step of the way.