Systemic racism is rampant throughout the Canadian Armed Forces, “repulsing” new recruits and putting at risk the country’s national security if jobs continue to go unfilled, according to a bombshell report.In stark terms, the report probing racism in the Canadian military lays out the rationale for why fixing the “toxic” environment goes to the heart of the military’s ability to do the crucial jobs entrusted to it.To sum it up: more and more Canadians will have no interest in joining until the military fixes its longstanding, interconnected issues of racism, abuse of power, gender discrimination and sexual misconduct.As part of that, the report says military brass must accept that some members will either leave, or need to be removed.“Racism in Canada is not a glitch in the system; it is the system,” reads the report by the Minister of National Defence’s Advisory Panel on Systemic Racism and Discrimination.
Over 50% of Canadians think systemic racism built into country’s institutions, poll says The report offered recommendations across 13 areas of the military’s culture and systems, and examined the full spectrum of racism and discrimination including the barriers facing Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ2+ and women within the ranks, as well as the barriers facing Canadians with disabilities.Its findings come at a time when the Canadian Forces is already facing what experts have repeatedly called an existential “crisis” about allegations of sexual misconduct within its senior ranks, as first reported by Global News in Feb.