Defence Team Champions for Racialized Persons Message: Emancipation Day 2025

July 28, 2025 – Defence Stories

Estimated read time – 2:30

On August 1, we commemorate Emancipation Day – the day in 1834 when the Slavery Abolition Act came into effect across the British Empire freeing millions of enslaved African people and their descendants. In Canada, this included Indigenous Peoples. Today and every day, we continue to honour the strength, resilience, and enduring contributions of Black and Indigenous Peoples who continue to shape and defend Canada.

Emancipation Day is more than a historic milestone, it is a powerful reminder that freedom, justice, and equality are ongoing commitments. For many, the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and systemic anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism persist in ways that continue to limit opportunities and equity. These truths compel us to act, not just in symbolic gestures, but through tangible, sustained efforts to confront discrimination, hatred, and all forms of extremism that threaten the safety and dignity of our people.

As members of the Defence Team, we are entrusted with defending Canadian values at home and abroad. Hateful conduct, be it through words or actions, has no place within the Defence Team. It goes against the values and ethical principles of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Code of Values and Ethics (PDF, 2.1 MB), and the CAF Ethos. Our commitment to rooting out these behaviours must be consistent and deliberate. We must remain vigilant against those who seek to spread hate or undermine cohesion within our ranks. A single act or hateful word can erode the trust that brings us together as teammates and as Canadians.

Emancipation Day calls on us to learn from the past and to challenge ourselves. It is about amplifying the voices and stories that were once silenced. It is about actively listening to Black and Indigenous Defence Team members, veterans, families, and communities, and acting on what we hear. It is about building trust with Defence Team members and Canadians through accountability and transparency, for lasting and meaningful change.

Across the Defence Team, we see people at all levels working hard to dismantle barriers, close gaps, and advance real inclusion. From the continued shared work at the policy and program level, combatting systemic racism and racial discrimination in the Defence Team and better understanding and addressing hateful conduct, to the purposeful integration of authentic perspectives and guidance by our Defence Advisory Groups and employee and member networks, our collective actions matter. Together, we are working deliberately with remembrance and resolve.

Today, we encourage all Defence Team members to take a moment to reflect on what Emancipation Day means to you, your teams, and your communities. Commit to learning more about the history of oppression and silence that brought us to this day. Commit to standing up against hatred and exclusion in all its forms. And commit to enabling every member of our Defence Team to serve, lead, and thrive in an environment free from racism and discrimination.

Rear-Admiral Jacques P. Olivier
Defence Team Champion for Racialized Persons
Champion for Defence Team Black Employees Network
Director General Culture, Chief Professional Conduct and Culture

Natasha Kim
Defence Team Champion for Racialized Persons
Assistant Deputy Minister of National Defence