CDS speech – International Women’s Day – Delivery

I really appreciate the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, “Make an Impact”.

I think it speaks to one of the core elements of our institution: that every one of us contributes to the operational objectives of the Canadian Armed Forces.

No matter your gender, or your race… whether you’re military or civilian… Officer or NCM… we all have an important role to play.

Remember that warfare isn’t a male endeavor or a female endeavor… it’s a human endeavor, and it involves all of us. That’s what we are about.

It’s our raison d’être – to protect Canadians, defend Canada, and contribute to international peace and security throughout the world.

I’d like to start by saying bravo to every one of you for the work that you do, on behalf of the senior leadership of the armed forces. We do great work every day.

Your work matters, and it has profound consequences for the defence and security of our nation.

Every day, women at every level and in every service are advancing the operational objectives of the Canadian Armed Forces, and therefore the defence of security of this country. 

Across the country and around the world, they are driving ships…operating and maintaining weapons systems…managing complex supply chains…fixing aircraft…providing health care … leading teams … and so much more.

And they’re in this headquarters, making decisions that will affect the future of Canadian defence and security.

The women in the Canadian Armed Forces wear their uniforms with pride, just like every other member of the profession of arms.

Because that is who they are: professionals. And that is how they should be treated: like professionals.

Today is both a celebration and a reminder that we have more work to do.

We no longer live in a world where military power alone can achieve a decisive victory and a lasting peace. If we want to be a results-based organization as opposed to an activities-based organization – where we admire the things that we do but don’t get anything done – the clear-cut binary view of war and peace must be seen as an illusion. It no longer exists.

We operate in an ambiguous world of intense and persistent competition and conflict in every domain imaginable.

As the military instrument of national power, we must be able to provide the Government and the people of Canada with the greatest number of viable options to address the threats of today and tomorrow.

As those threats evolve and become more complex, we require, on an existential level, diverse, inclusive teams who can work together to develop solutions that work and create outcomes.

Whether we are operating in Canada or abroad, we need people who are capable of engaging effectively with diverse populations, and who can understand the complexity of warfare and contribute to it as a leader or a technician. It’s an operational imperative.

So we need more women and more people from varied backgrounds. We must draw from the entire population. We cannot, by basis of bias or old policies, exclude 50% of population from candidacy in the armed forces.

We need people who have unique perspectives, skillsets, and experiences that enable them to look at problems in different ways. Because we’re fighting in different places: we fight in cyberspace, we fight in the information domain, and we fight in space.

Diversity of thought is absolutely essential to achieving military success in all domains; the land, air, and sea domains are changing as well, enabled by those others.

If we approach problems the same way that we did a few decades ago, then we’ll never advance.

If everyone on the team is thinking inside the same linear template, then we’ll never innovate. I truly believe that the only way that we can succeed is by empowering the highly capable people who we have, and recruiting the brightest talent that Canadian society has to offer.

In order to do those two things—retain great talent and bring in fresh potential—we need to continue to make improvements in our work environment.

Those improvements will be achieved through policies that are designed to reduce unnecessary hardships—the military is hard enough as it is, we’ve got to fight other people, not ourselves. We also have to empower our people, and offer them more flexibility and choice in their careers. Because that’s how we’ll get the best people, and that’s how we’ll produce the best military.

It’s still about service before self. We’re never going to abandon standards, and we’re never going to abandon service before self. But all of that can be accomplished with wiser, more intelligently applied policies and flexibility; it will make for a better armed forces.

This will come in the form of promoting a healthier, more positive culture, and creating a safe work environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, so that we can go into those unsafe work environments, where we must be able to bring the kind of warfighting power necessary, we can do that as a team, successfully, and not be fighting each other along the way.

And they will come from our individual choices and actions. We need sound leaders who inspire, take care of, and mentor their people, as well as co-workers who look out for one another. We’re all a team. 

In order to achieve the important missions that we have been entrusted with, we need all of our members to be at their best, and exclude none.

That means being healthy in both body and mind. And it means being valued for your contributions.

Do not listen to the voices who would try to convince you that it’s not right to try to reach 25% of women in uniform. I’m not trying to recruit those people, and I don’t really care about their opinions.

At the end of the day, I think that many of us decided to take on a life of service because we wanted to make meaningful contributions to our country and our society.

We wanted to protect our country and spend our days doing significant work that has a real impact on the world around us.

There were, of course, other motivating factors: adventure and seeing the world, camaraderie, making a good living, or following in family members’ legacy of duty and honour, to name a few.

But there is something unique about raising your hand and signing up to serve your country, in defence or in the armed force. It’s gold. So we have to value the people that do that, all of them. And we have to encourage more to.

So, this day, and every day, you know I’m committed to ensuring that everyone, including every woman who wears the uniform with pride, is provided with the opportunity to excel. Because if you excel, we excel. It’s as simple as that.