Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
Photo Credit: Canadian Club Toronto
Esprit de Corps Magazine December 2021 // Volume 28 Issue 11
Let's Talk About Women in the Military – Column 33
By Military Woman
Question:
Any thoughts to share with the Cabinet Ministers of Canada’s 44th Parliament?
Answer:
Absolutely!
To Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence: We are told that your strengths include a deep knowledge of governance, the public service and procurement. Hopefully, you will soon be adding two additional strengths to that list – an understanding of military culture(s) and military servicemember unique needs.
Military servicemembers are the one group of federal employees which can be legally ordered, without access to union or administrative recourse, into unsafe work environments. Therefore, the military aspires to always have the right people with the right training and the right equipment to effectively, and as safely as possible, achieve any assigned tasking or mission.
Many assume you will either be able to successfully advocate for the resources needed by the military to do its mission safely, or you may find yourself admiring the view from the proverbial glass cliff – much to the security detriment of both Canada and her military’s servicemembers. Your ability to best support the military’s mission may well end up depending more on your ability to influence those above and beside you during cabinet budget discussions than any influence or changes possible directly within CAF.
To Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence: We call on you to “lead by example” and to ensure your department’s full implementation of gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) to allow for sex, gender, and intersectional equity considerations in all that you do.
We also call on you to improve on the transparency and accountability to Veterans for all VAC programs, services, and research. VAC (and DND) should follow the Office of the Auditor General’s 2014 recommendations to focus more on health and well-being performance measures and less on total numbers of people put through various unvalidated programs and services. VAC (and DND) should also be signatories to upholding the Federal Tri-Council Policy on the Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2).
Lastly, we remind you of your personal 2019 promise for an annual Women Veterans Forum. An annual forum was to confirm and showcase the department’s women Veteran research strategy. A research plan that was to address known gaps in baseline data and understanding for women Veteran issues such as how to prevent women Veterans housing insecurity/homelessness and other female sex specific medical, mental health, addictions, eating disorders, moral injury and reproductive wellbeing related issues. An annual Women Veterans Forum was also to be an important opportunity for the mobilization and transfer of women Veteran specific knowledge to the civilian health care provider community. It’s time to name a date for our next Women Veterans Forum.
To Filomena Tassi, Minister of Public Service and Procurement: Despite the previous mandate letters that ordered fighter and Navy fleet updates, the military is still using out-of-date, verging on obsolete, equipment to keep Canada “strong, secure and engaged.” Defence related procurement decisions need to be made.
To Marci Ien, Minister of Women and Gender Equity: Moving forward, we hope to see inclusion of diverse military and Veteran voices in all your gender-based violence work and continued support to further the implementation of sex and gender-based analysis throughout the Canadian Armed Forces.
To Harjit Sajjan, Minister of International Development: Your prior experience with Women, Peace and Security issues and GBA+ should serve Canada’s feminist foreign policy development well. One request is to immediately find funding options for charities, like Veterans Transition Network, that o provide lifesaving supports to the Afghanis awaiting Government of Canada final paperwork processing prior to their ability to leave Afghanistan.
To Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions: Present mental health and addiction prevention and treatment strategies require a radical redesign to become more inter-disciplinary, whole-health, and patient-care centric including for servicemembers and Veterans. Hopes are high that this new portfolio will serve to disrupt the ineffective status quo.
To all: Building Canada “back better” this Parliament, will need everyone working together for the well-being of all Canadians, servicemembers and Veterans included.
Update:
2024. ACVA member Carolyn Bennett resigned as a member of parliament and was thereafter named as the next Canadian Ambassador to Denmark. She was replaced on the ACVA committee by the Parliamentary Secretary for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Lisa Hepfner.
