Bercuson: The challenge of Recruiting Women to the Canadian Armed Forces

By: David Bercuson, iPolitics 

One of the innovative programs that grows out of the Strong, Secure and Engaged defence policy statement released a year ago is the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) project launched by the Department of National Defence in April this year. The project promises $1.3 billion over ten years to be distributed to scholars, businesses and researchers generally who undertake competitive endeavors to help the government solve 16 defence and security challenges in many domains. The majority of the proposals the government is seeking help with are highly technical challenges but one – to achieve 25 per cent female participation in the Canadian forces within ten years – is most decidedly not.

In this undated photo provided by Canadian Armed Forces Capt. Ashley Collette, poses for a photo with children during a patrol in Afghanistan. During her 10-month deployment, Collette led a 50-strong all-male infantry unit providing security to villagers. The Department of National Defence has set the goal of 25 per cent of the Canadian forces being women in the next 10 years. (AP Photo/Capt. Ashley Collette)

Since 2000, women are eligible to serve in any branch of the Canadian Armed Forces in any capacity. Today about 15 per cent of Canada’s soldiers, sailors and air personnel are women. That number has been relatively static for some time. The government wants to see more women in the CAF for very good reasons, namely that female perspectives in the entire range of armed forces activities and defence-related matters is crucial and that any nation, company or military force that either excludes or does not encourage full participation of one half of humanity in its endeavours will be outpaced by those that do.

"But ‘manliness’ today is a concept much in dispute, as evolving gender roles have opened up large areas of society to female participation. Remember when the doctor was a kindly older man? Today there are more women than men in medical schools."

So what is the problem? The CAF offers a good career for young men and women who crave adventure in their lives, are physically and mentally fit, and who want to step out of the confines of an office or a factory assembly line. Benefits are generous, pay is at least equal to that in the private sector and Canadians today pay a great deal of honour and respect to those who serve.

There is really no secret to increasing the number of women in the Canadian armed forces and it begins with security of the person. From time immemorial, soldiering was seen as a male endeavor. In historian Geoffrey Hayes latest book Crerar’s Lieutenants: Inventing the Canadian Junior Army Officer, 1939-45, much emphasis is placed on that quality called “manliness” that dominated thinking about what would make a good junior officer in the Second World War. The concept itself is not new and other historians have written about “manliness” as an essential quality going back to the days of the Canadian militia. But “manliness” today is a concept much in dispute, as evolving gender roles have opened up large areas of society to female participation. Remember when the doctor was a kindly older man? Today there are more women than men in medical schools.

If women do not feel secure, at ease and totally comfortable as themselves, in uniform, why would they think of a career in the military forces? It’s hard to say if sexual harassment is any more prevalent in the military than in industry, broadcasting, entertainment or education, but those fields have become as traditional for women as they once were for men. And within those areas of employment, women are increasingly vocal in their fight to be treated as human beings. In the military, with its hierarchical chain of command, fighting city hall is much harder.

The other task, no less important, is to fight that still prevalent belief among males that women may be good civil-military relations folks, but poor trigger pullers, by ensuring from the word go — in training at all levels — that the female person standing beside you is just as qualified in her field of military occupation as you are and will have your back, as necessary.

Easy to say, but the challenges, even in the early 21st century, are immense.
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David Bercuson is Director of Programs at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and Director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

Canadian Forces Considering Dropping Citizenship Requirements

By: Tony Keene, CBC News Opinions

The Canadian Armed Forces recently said that in the interest of boosting ranks, it is considering changing its requirement that recruits have Canadian citizenship — a policy that many assumed to be longstanding.

In fact, the longstanding practice in our military has been to enroll non-citizens. It has long been part of our military tradition. If it had not been, I wouldn't be here writing this column.

In the First World War, the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which fought on the Western Front, was largely made up of British-born men throughout the entire four years of that conflict. They were given priority for recruitment in some cases, and even as late as October of 1917, a survey showed that the CEF was still 55 per cent British. And that was all ranks. If you take out the officers, who were largely Canadian-born, the percentage rises to about 65 per cent.

And that, after more than three years of war.

Canada was awarded 73 Victoria Crosses in that conflict. Only 30 of them went to those born in this country; the rest went to foreigners, almost all of them British.

When the war ended, large numbers of those men did not come home to Canada, but went back to the British Isles. They weren't Canadian, and did not consider themselves to be. Most of them joined because they were unemployed, and wanted to go home to Britain. Three hots and a cot, and a steamship bunk.

After the Second World War, when not only Brits but many Americans served in our uniforms, the Royal Canadian Air Force was being equipped with the Bomarc anti-aircraft missile. The need for increased security prompted the formation of an Air Force Police branch, and recruiters immediately set out, not across Canada but across the Atlantic, seeking to lure the famed British Bobby to come to our shores.

At the time, the the Metropolitan London Police were thought to be the finest police force on earth, and Brit cops were thought to be superior overall.

One of those was my father.

Recruitment on the streets of London

Having served in the Household Cavalry, he was now in the Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch. While riding through the streets of London in 1955, he was hailed by a Canadian air force recruiter:

"Good morning constable! Are you thinking about emigrating? The Royal Canadian Air Force needs policemen."

And that's how I got here.

After living in Alberta for five years, we were posted to France, and then Germany with the 1st Canadian Air Division.

I remember going into the guardhouse at Grostenquin in France to see my father, and hearing nothing but British accents from everyone in there. The entire shift was British.

The author's father, Cpl. Jack Keene, being decorated at RCAF 2 Wing, Grostenquin, France in 1961. (Supplied)

Upon our return to Canada in 1964, we settled at Base Borden in Ontario and at the age of 17, I joined my local militia regiment, the Grey and Simcoe Foresters. Citizenship was never an issue. Three years later, I was commissioned and joined my local newspaper, The Barrie Examiner, and my two careers moved forward in tandem.

We were called "landed immigrants" and for all intents and purposes, we were the same as citizens.

When my father retired in 1969, we were still not citizens, and this caused a flap when my parents returned to Britain for two years and then tried to come back. They were turned down as "undesirable immigrants" and it took newspaper headlines and a ministerial warrant to allow them back in.

We all became Canadian citizens shortly after that. I remember walking into the citizenship office in uniform, as I was on reserve duty at the time. I was shown into an office where a woman administered the oath, had me sign a piece of paper, and that was it. My certificate arrived in the mail shortly afterwards.

Enrolling non-citizens in the Forces is a Canadian tradition going back to the beginning of our military. This is nothing new, and it will not only provide us with skilled and trained soldiers, but eventually with more solid citizens, especially if we give them a "fast track" way of doing it.

If the world needs more Canada, Canada needs more Canadians. This is another good way to get them.

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This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.

CAF Grows More Top Heavy

By: Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The Canadian military has been getting heavier up top and not in the muffin sort of way.

New figures show the ranks of the Canadian Forces' senior brass have been growing at a much faster rate than the rest of the military over the last 15 years as dozens of generals and admirals have been added.

How much faster? There were 130 generals and admirals in January 2018 compared with 81 during same month in 2003 — a 60 per cent increase over a period in which the rest of the military grew by less than two per cent.

Defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance stood by the additional brass in an interview on Wednesday and said he plans to grow the senior ranks even more in the coming years in response to new demands and challenges.

"The number of general officers in militaries is not a direct reflection or correlation to the number of people you have in your military," he told The Canadian Press. "We don't grow generals because we want more generals."

Defence experts are divided over the rapid rate of expansion, with some saying it is necessary and others warning about the potential draw on resources from other parts of the military, particularly in terms of combat readiness.

One high-profile review conducted in 2010 by then-lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie, now a Liberal MP and parliamentary secretary for Canada-U.S. relations, specifically called for a reduction in senior military positions.

"Initiatives to reduce overhead should target the disproportionate increases in senior management ... aiming to restore civilian and military (executive) positions to roughly 2004 levels," Leslie wrote.

Vance pushed back against suggestions the Canadian Forces is in danger of getting a brass bulge, saying there have been important changes over the past 15 years that require more generals.

For example, he said, Canada has deployed more senior officers to act as liaison officers with various U.S. and foreign commands in response to evolving threats and the need for greater understanding of what is happening overseas.

New priorities have also emerged with regards to space and cyber operations, while Vance said he has specifically appointed senior officers to manage sensitive personnel files such as sexual misconduct and veterans' issues.

"So those are positions that get filled as a result of how it is that we want to improve our own performance in a force that's growing or has gotten new needs," he said.

"I put a general officer in a place where I need a general officer. And there are a number of factors that lead to that. It's not always how many people are you leading. It might be the job that you're doing."

Defence analysts were largely united in their belief that some type of growth at the top of the military over the past 15 years was to be expected — and even necessary.

"The business of defence has become increasingly complex over the last 20 years," Canadian Forces College professor Eric Ouellet said in an email. "So, there is a need for more 'management' and therefore more (senior officers)."

But David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute was among those who questioned the extent of the "rank creep," especially since the numbers continued to climb even as the Harper government cut the Forces earlier this decade.

Many units were forced to park vehicles or cut training as they faced budget reductions of up to 15 per cent, which has only been reversed in the past couple of years.

"I'm sure there are defensible explanations for all of them," Perry said of the continued increase in senior officers.

"It's just when you step back and look at 50 positions and that kind of percentage increase which vastly exceeds the overall increase in the size of the force, then it's a little bit harder to rationalize the collective picture."