The ( Our / My ) Failures of CAF Leadership in Dealing with Sexual Assault and Harassment

One of the quick ways to get this Blog up and running is to post a number of the longer threads from my Twitter Account.  I can think of no more important thread than the one I wrote on 1 Mar 2021. 

Here it is from a cut  / paste as opposed to including any edit 

A dear friend and fellow retired CAF Svc mbr asked me over the weekend why I have prefaced most of my public comments on the CAF situation with some type of apology or statement of self-blame.

 He is a long-term vet who has done countless things behind the scenes to continue to serve and contribute. I am proud to know him, have worked with him and call him a friend. In most every way he represents everything I admire and love about the CAF. A honorable person

He and I disagree on this issue and I realized that my position needed to be more public if I aspired to influencing the debate. My stance does not come from a sense that our whole careers were failures.

 I remain inordinately proud of my svc & what the CAF does at home / around the world. Canada has world class people, demonstrated every time they are called upon to do something. But we have been far from perfect. Nobody is and accepting shortfalls is key in addressing them

Beside failure, what other term can you use to describe leadership that allows a work environment where parts of the team are regularly subjected to SH and SA. As one woman said to me “It is a matter of when next, not if I have to deal with the issue”

None of this presupposes an easy fix, nor indeed refutes that significant progress has been made. The same friend describes the operating environment, compared to 25 years ago when she joined, as “unimaginably better, but yet nowhere near good enough.”

If we don’t accept that we have failed, if we try to defend our individual and collective actions by continually referring to all the things we have done and do, we are essentially defending where we find ourselves in this moment of time.

Only through accepting our response has been inadequate are we truly able to look at what has been done, see it as insufficient and as a consequence make the necessary adjustments to not just do better, but do what needs to be done.

So I and others are to blame through acts of omission and commission. Pretending it is someone else’s fault or the system or culture is bad leadership.  The principles of leadership teach us: “Seek and Accept Responsibility” It doesn’t say: Only when that makes you feel good.

Introduction and Motivation

 I've come to realize that although I have no abiding, let alone compelling, interest to appear on TV etc, I do have strong views on a number of issues which I wish to communicate publicly.  Equally, as a retired General Officer, I am often aware of the criticism that comes from "not being on the record" which too often is misconstrued as a reluctance to stand up and be counted etc. (more on this going in a future blog) 

As a result of my service I have maintained an interest in participating in the debate of not just what should be done in and for Canada but what options should be considered to achieve those objectives.

The final motivation for this blog is an appreciation that the reality that although Twitter (my chosen SM platform) is great at many things (and concurrently horrible) it is not always the best place to communicate ideas and positions that are complex.  I'm an adherent to the idea that simple solutions to complex issues are simply wrong !!

So I'm starting a Blog !! 

My focus will be on issues associated with National Security, Strategy, the Military writ large and the Canadian Armed Forces specifically, as well as correlated issues such as culture most specifically racism, misogyny, religious persecution and all other societal constructs that impact on the safety, security and stability of Civil Society.

I hope that this Blog serves as a way to crowd-source feedback and learn from different perspectives.

Should anyone have an interest in commenting, which I would be very keen to read, I would merely say that expect as good as you get but that I have zero tolerance for opinions that are derogatory. It is not that I am fussed by such language etc (I am after all a soldier at heart). Rather I think they do nothing to add to thoughtful discussion and to the contrary show a poorly developed thought process and are likely derived from someone who has neither the interest let alone the intellectual capacity to engage in the exchange of ideas and thoughts that are considered and respectful of others.   

Lastly the formatting and posting of these Blogs will be a bit of a journey of discovery as I learn how best to communicate and present my musings. Be patient with me on this, I will get better.