Defence Minister Anita Anand will issue a long-awaited report this morning which is expected to take the military to task for not doing enough to tackle racism in the ranks over the past two decades.
 

The report is the result of a year-long review by a panel of retired Canadian Armed Forces members tasked with identifying ways to address hatred, racism, and discrimination in the ranks.
 

The review was launched in December 2020 amid concerns about systemic racism in the military, as well as reported ties between some members and hate groups, right-wing extremism, and white supremacy.

An internal document summarizing the main findings reached by the panel, obtained by the Canadian Press, states that the military will be criticized for failing to act on previous reviews and recommendations to address the problem over the past twenty years.

As stated in the summary dated April 14: "The report strongly reiterates that the defence team must focus more on previous recommendations made because it believes the organization has the knowledge and expertise to implement them in order to ensure effective and purposeful cultural change."
 

The panel also calls on the military to "amplify the voices of those with lived experiences," and focus on following up on previous recommendations to ensure real cultural change in the ranks.
 

For its part, the advisory team in the report affirms that the only way change will happen is by increasing accountability that starts at the unit level and moves upward at every level in the organization, "as stated in the summary."

Meanwhile, there have been growing concerns about racism in the armed forces and the connections between some military personnel and hate groups following a series of incidents and reports that some right-wing groups actively recruit service members.

Those incidents include a group of sailors linked to Proud Boys who disrupted a Mi’kmaq ceremony in Halifax in 2017 and media reports of other members associated with neo-Nazi groups like the Atomwaffen Division.

On the other hand, a 2018 military intelligence report said officials were aware of 30 active service members who were part of a hate group or had made statements involving discrimination or racism.

Anand received the panel’s report in early January, but her failure to release it so far has been questioned by the military ombudsman’s office, Gregory Lake.

Her office has conducted its own study to follow up on the military’s efforts to increase diversity in the ranks and will reveal this study in early May.

Andrew Bernardo, spokesperson for the ombudsman’s office, said, “We have repeatedly requested to see the panel’s report through multiple channels before its release for months,” adding that the results of Lake’s review “are not good.”

Explaining, “Whatever new initiatives have been put forward as a result of the panel’s report, the ombudsman has insisted on not repeating the same mistakes, and that the department and military need to do things differently.”

The briefing document says that Armed Forces officials and the Department of Defence are working on implementing its 47 recommendations.

However, despite the panel’s focus on action, the briefing document says only about half of the panel’s recommendations are being implemented, while others will take more time and require further review and consultations across the organization due to the scope and complexity of the recommendations and the need to collaborate with external partners."
 

The work is being coordinated by a new internal committee tasked with reforming the military culture based on the panel’s report as well as many others, including retired Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour’s report on addressing sexual misconduct in the ranks.

The panel is also expected to call for “uncomfortable” conversations about race and white privilege, and how systemic barriers negatively affected Indigenous and Black forces and the practice of racism.

The panel report is also expected to speak about the impact of control, and the current imbalance in the proportion of military personnel who are white men compared to the rest of the Canadian population.

The briefing document states: “Panel members want to emphasize that they in no way diminish the contribution of the white man in the defence team, he is one of the reasons for the problem.”

The document includes a proposed response to criticism that the panel’s report is simply “waking up from this game,” saying: “We found that the concept of awakening is still inconsistent with its original meaning, to be a driver of social awareness and a good inspiration.”

While the military is currently focused on the war in Ukraine and other threats, the briefing document describes cultural change as crucial for recruiting and retaining enough forces to face those challenges.

The report concluded that “it is important to create a fair and inclusive environment so that we are better positioned to recruit and retain the people we need to address urgent issues today.”

And that “without popular engagement, we cannot address or face the challenges of wars or fight them, as people remain in places where they feel they belong only.”