Hon. Andrew Cardozo: Welcome, Minister Blair, to the Senate. Thank you for being here for the past hour or more. You talked about the death spiral when it comes to recruitment. Surely, part of the problem is the rampant or the significant presence of misogyny and racism in the forces. What is it about the forces that allows members to feel they can behave so reprehensibly? What concrete steps are you taking, and how are those measures going?

Hon. Bill Blair, P.C., M.P., Minister of National Defence: Let me first of all agree with you that there’s no place for racism or misogyny nor any form of discrimination in the Canadian Armed Forces. Everyone who makes that remarkable choice to serve their country in the Canadian Armed Forces deserves to be treated with respect and to be supported and respected when serving in that uniform. There can be no tolerance for racism or intolerance within the Canadian Armed Forces.

We have the benefit of some really important consultations and work that have been done with members of the Canadian Armed Forces. In particular, I’m implementing the recommendations of Justice Arbour. She made 48 recommendations, one which requires legislative change. I have Bill C-66 currently before the House. I am working really hard to get it through second reading so we can get it to committee. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we can get it before this house because it is important legislation, and it aligns completely with the recommendation of Justice Arbour. But there are 47 other recommendations, as well as other reports from Justice Fish, for example, which we’re busily implementing.

We have made commitments through a number of different initiatives. There’s not one thing to do to confront racism because it’s a human frailty, and we recruit from the human race. There are a thousand things to do. I’ve appointed a special committee to look at all of our military training institutions to ensure that we organize them in such a way that it does not foster that type of misbehaviour. There can be no tolerance for racism, misogyny and hatred in the Canadian Armed Forces. Frankly, overwhelmingly, we hire some of the best people anywhere in the world. They’ve made extraordinary choices to serve their country. Overwhelmingly, they’re great people —

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Thank you, minister.

Hon. Andrew Cardozo: I look forward to the bill coming to the Senate soon.