Acting Chief of Military Personnel on Diversity, Inclusion, and Culture Change Short-Term Initiatives

[kev994]

On the flip side, for the orange shirt day there was a really good workshop put on here in Ottawa. The presenters included residential school survivors as well as children of residential school survivors and gave some good first hand insight into how that impacted them (or how having their parents go through that impacted them) which was open to everyone and genuinely learned a lot from it (as aforementioned straight white male). Haven't been able to join some of the 'Ask me anything' type sessions, but have heard that some were good, some were bad, and others were inbetween.

At my base the indigenous group invites everyone to their smudging ceremonies, they explain it really well, tell a story it’s super interesting.

 

[daftandbarmy]

At my base the indigenous group invites everyone to their smudging ceremonies, they explain it really well, tell a story it’s super interesting.

I've had similar experiences with Indigenous communities.

It's almost as if we could learn alot from them about how to respectfully share different ideas and practises with others in a way that facilitates authentic engagement, understanding and appreciation.

 

[Kilted]

A friend of mine had the same experience, he was turned down for a couple of things he volunteered for because as a straight white male he wasn't "diverse" enough. I had a sense they didn't want people like me, so didn't even bother to waste the effort to write the email to volunteer.

Pretty soon skin colour is going to affect your ability to DAG Green.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Pretty soon skin colour is going to affect your ability to DAG Green.

Or the levels of certain hormones


Canada’s Mali mission will emphasize deployment of female peacekeepers

The Canadian contingent will be a combination of Chinook helicopters, which will be tasked with providing medical evacuations and logistical support, and smaller Griffons to act as armed escorts for the larger transports.

Canada’s Mali mission will emphasize deployment of female peacekeepers

The Canadian contingent will be a combination of Chinook helicopters, which will be tasked with providing medical evacuations and logistical support, and smaller Griffons to act as armed escorts for the larger transports.

www.thestar.com

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Or the levels of certain hormones

I had guys deploy on that mission and it apparently was a gong show trying to fill that specific requirement... mainly because a lot of the positions needing to be filled in certain trades, there was 1 to 2 pers in the CAF they could deploy; before factoring in DAG status and availability. The Germans apparently thought we were insane for caving to that demand from the UN.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I had guys deploy on that mission and it apparently was a gong show trying to fill that specific requirement... mainly because a lot of the positions needing to be filled in certain trades, there was 1 to 2 pers in the CAF they could deploy; before factoring in DAG status and availability. The Germans apparently thought we were insane for caving to that demand from the UN.

The Germans were right

 

[OldSolduer]

He

Pretty soon skin colour is going to affect your ability to DAG Green.

Only white straight males are racist ya know?

 

[dimsum]

Pretty soon skin colour is going to affect your ability to DAG Green.

Maybe, but not in the way you expect.

For example:

Say we go to another African nation for peacekeeping or whatever, and say that nation was a colony of either France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy...you get my drift.

If I were the one picking candidates (I am not), maybe a thought would be "would the local population be more receptive to a white or black dude", all things being equal (e.g. they both speak the local lingua franca, etc). I would probably be considering that even more if it's not under the auspices of something like the UN.

Taking it further - same goes with women. I wasn't doing that, but I've heard that in Afghanistan, having female soldiers/etc on patrol meant that they could talk to the women, whereas generally the men could not. That gives an entire new aspect to the situation and yeah, I'd probably want to make sure that the task force includes women.

 

[Quirky]

Only white straight males are racist ya know?

Man, should go for a walk in Richmond, BC.

Yes I know you were being sarcastic.

 

[Weinie]

Or the levels of certain hormones


Canada’s Mali mission will emphasize deployment of female peacekeepers

The Canadian contingent will be a combination of Chinook helicopters, which will be tasked with providing medical evacuations and logistical support, and smaller Griffons to act as armed escorts for the larger transports.

Canada’s Mali mission will emphasize deployment of female peacekeepers

The Canadian contingent will be a combination of Chinook helicopters, which will be tasked with providing medical evacuations and logistical support, and smaller Griffons to act as armed escorts for the larger transports.

www.thestar.com

The good news is that in most males(myself included apparently, but not evidently) hormonal levels decrease with age. So less male/more experienced CAF is evolving. Score!

 

[Good2Golf]

The good news is that in most males(myself included apparently, but not evidently) hormonal levels decrease with age. So less male/more experienced CAF is evolving. Score!

There may be some Queen Bees in the CAF who may have even higher testosterone than your average WASPHNM…

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Say we go to another African nation for peacekeeping or whatever, and say that nation was a colony of either France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy...you get my drift.

White colonialism has been a scourge on that continent since well before Canada was a country. Even our own backyard is full of actual skeletons from our colonial past we are starting to address. I don't think we can walk in with a diverse TF and hold the moral high ground any more than the Belgians, Spaniards, or British.

If I were the one picking candidates (I am not), maybe a thought would be "would the local population be more receptive to a white or black dude", all things being equal (e.g. they both speak the local lingua franca, etc). I would probably be considering that even more if it's not under the auspices of something like the UN.

As we saw in Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan, CAR, Sierra Leone etc... even if we are good at peacekeeping, Africa needs to fix Africa. Task tailoring a Canadian TF based on race, lingua franca, or otherwise is a fools errand

Taking it further - same goes with women. I wasn't doing that, but I've heard that in Afghanistan, having female soldiers/etc on patrol meant that they could talk to the women, whereas generally the men could not. That gives an entire new aspect to the situation and yeah, I'd probably want to make sure that the task force includes women.

Diversity is a force multiplier for sure; however, it's not the sole blueprint for building a TO&E. Women, diverse members, linguistic specialists, cultural specialist,etc all play a role in mission success, but they are not the only factor. Having competent, proficient soldiers and leaders in place that will complement diversity with ability should be the motivating factor in how we force generate and force employ.

 

[Infanteer]

Maybe, but not in the way you expect.

For example:

Say we go to another African nation for peacekeeping or whatever, and say that nation was a colony of either France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy...you get my drift.

If I were the one picking candidates (I am not), maybe a thought would be "would the local population be more receptive to a white or black dude", all things being equal (e.g. they both speak the local lingua franca, etc). I would probably be considering that even more if it's not under the auspices of something like the UN.

Taking it further - same goes with women. I wasn't doing that, but I've heard that in Afghanistan, having female soldiers/etc on patrol meant that they could talk to the women, whereas generally the men could not. That gives an entire new aspect to the situation and yeah, I'd probably want to make sure that the task force includes women.

So, are you saying we should send white people over others to the Balkans next time we need to conduct a mission there?

 

[OldSolduer]

Man, should go for a walk in Richmond, BC.

Yes I know you were being sarcastic.

What’s in Richmond? I seriously don’t know.

 

[dimsum]

What’s in Richmond? I seriously don’t know.

A ton of Chinese people/businesses.

 

[Grimey]

What’s in Richmond? I seriously don’t know.

Let's just say there's more people of a WASPHNM hue in Hong Kong than Richmond. Old joke: Q. Which river separates India and China. A. The Fraser.

 

[Edward Campbell]

What’s in Richmond? I seriously don’t know.

It is, probably, Canada's most Asian City.

It is a suburb of Vancouver. It has a long Asian tradition. The fishing village of Steveston was mainly Japanese Canadian for the 20th century - and they came back and prospered, again, after being interred.

In the 1950s Richmond developed a plan to try to attract more Asian (Japan and HK and Taiwan) immigration. It worked.

 

[daftandbarmy]

It is, probably, Canada's most Asian City.

It is a suburb of Vancouver. It has a long Asian tradition. The fishing village of Steveston was mainly Japanese Canadian for the 20th century - and they came back and prospered, again, after being interred.

In the 1950s Richmond developed a plan to try to attract more Asian (Japan and HK and Taiwan) immigration. It worked.

And there's no bilingual signage in many places. Although most of us know where the best restaurants are located without a sign being required

‘New minority’ in Richmond fail in push for inclusion of English on signs​

A small but vocal group of Richmond seniors were despondent Monday after city council rejected their call for a bylaw quashing Chinese-only signage in a city where more than half the residents are of Chinese descent.

‘New minority’ in Richmond fail in push for inclusion of English on signs

A small but vocal group of Richmond seniors were despondent Monday after city council rejected their call for a bylaw quashing Chinese-only signage in a city…

vancouversun.com

 

[Kilted]

Maybe, but not in the way you expect.

For example:

Say we go to another African nation for peacekeeping or whatever, and say that nation was a colony of either France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy...you get my drift.

If I were the one picking candidates (I am not), maybe a thought would be "would the local population be more receptive to a white or black dude", all things being equal (e.g. they both speak the local lingua franca, etc). I would probably be considering that even more if it's not under the auspices of something like the UN.

Taking it further - same goes with women. I wasn't doing that, but I've heard that in Afghanistan, having female soldiers/etc on patrol meant that they could talk to the women, whereas generally the men could not. That gives an entire new aspect to the situation and yeah, I'd probably want to make sure that the task force includes women.

We can talk about how diverse a task forces needs to be for a specific missing all day, the reality of the situation is do we actually have the people to fill the position without taking their race into consideration?

I was more refering to how we are starting to see more and more things excluding white people, I'm just wondering how far we will see it go?

 

[Brad Sallows]

Approximately until the point at which the people doing the excluding notice that the people excluded can also exclude themselves (disengage) from other things, and tally up the costs.