Video evidence recently leaked from a Veterans Affairs Canada conference held in February show officials lamenting the sexist, racist history of white men in uniform fighting for Canada’s future since the First World War. The 2023 Women and (sexual minorities community) Veterans Forum included panel discussions with service members, both active and retired, and members of community organizations. Footage published by True North shows several of these panel discussions, where participants complain about the Canadian military’s long-standing history of discrimination against people that identify as transgender or non-whites — an example of what conference-goers called “multiple marginalizations.” “Multiple marginalizations means the experience of being discriminated against because of two or more identity components, misogyny, racism, homophobia, colonialism, transphobia, ageism and other prejudices,” said Veterans Affairs Executive Equity Officer Jackie Wills as the conference began. .As the conference got underway, several panels spoke about the problematic ways of thinking entrenched in the Canadian military. Retired service member Kareth Huber, who identifies as transgender, arbitrarily said “white male special force operators” never had it as bad as trans members in the armed forces. “I’ve been a lot of different places for veterans and there’s always a miasma in the room of, 'The freak is now taking the stage,’” said Huber.“Some of you in the room have seen me get angry because some white male special force operator thinks that he had it bad. Okay, be your white male special force operator, go do your special force operation and then get the sh*t beat out of you by your fellow forces because you’re a fag.” .Meanwhile, retired major Kathryn Foss condemned herself as “racist and sexist” due to the fact she was born in Canada during a panel called “intersectionality and the veteran experience.”“I’m racist, I’m sexist. I’m all of those. I was born in this country. I was born in this culture so you cannot deny that,” said Foss, lamenting the “thousand years” struggle with sexism and transphobia the military has been forced to endure. “Unless you look at the culture and I’m not talking about yesterday. If you go back a few, a thousand years maybe, even, it tells you a lot. The culture, the ideology, what underpins the racism, the sexism, the transphobia, etc.”A government report detailing the panel Foss spoke on noted its goal was “to uplift the experiences of Veterans facing multiple marginalizations, a concept rooted in the feminist theory of intersectionality.”“The discussion focused on how individuals may face multiple layers of discrimination (misogyny, racism, homophobia, colonialism, transphobia, ageism and other prejudices),” wrote Veterans Affairs Canada. .When the conference was coming to an end, Assistant Deputy Minister at Veterans Affairs Amy Meunier, wrapped things up by criticizing the fact that a First and Second World War commemoration program for veterans was dominated by white men. “When I first joined the department we had a wonderful program, Heroes Remembered. It didn’t occur to me for a very long time, I was always seeing older white men from World War I and World War II,” said Meunier.
Video evidence recently leaked from a Veterans Affairs Canada conference held in February show officials lamenting the sexist, racist history of white men in uniform fighting for Canada’s future since the First World War. The 2023 Women and (sexual minorities community) Veterans Forum included panel discussions with service members, both active and retired, and members of community organizations. Footage published by True North shows several of these panel discussions, where participants complain about the Canadian military’s long-standing history of discrimination against people that identify as transgender or non-whites — an example of what conference-goers called “multiple marginalizations.” “Multiple marginalizations means the experience of being discriminated against because of two or more identity components, misogyny, racism, homophobia, colonialism, transphobia, ageism and other prejudices,” said Veterans Affairs Executive Equity Officer Jackie Wills as the conference began. .As the conference got underway, several panels spoke about the problematic ways of thinking entrenched in the Canadian military. Retired service member Kareth Huber, who identifies as transgender, arbitrarily said “white male special force operators” never had it as bad as trans members in the armed forces. “I’ve been a lot of different places for veterans and there’s always a miasma in the room of, 'The freak is now taking the stage,’” said Huber.“Some of you in the room have seen me get angry because some white male special force operator thinks that he had it bad. Okay, be your white male special force operator, go do your special force operation and then get the sh*t beat out of you by your fellow forces because you’re a fag.” .Meanwhile, retired major Kathryn Foss condemned herself as “racist and sexist” due to the fact she was born in Canada during a panel called “intersectionality and the veteran experience.”“I’m racist, I’m sexist. I’m all of those. I was born in this country. I was born in this culture so you cannot deny that,” said Foss, lamenting the “thousand years” struggle with sexism and transphobia the military has been forced to endure. “Unless you look at the culture and I’m not talking about yesterday. If you go back a few, a thousand years maybe, even, it tells you a lot. The culture, the ideology, what underpins the racism, the sexism, the transphobia, etc.”A government report detailing the panel Foss spoke on noted its goal was “to uplift the experiences of Veterans facing multiple marginalizations, a concept rooted in the feminist theory of intersectionality.”“The discussion focused on how individuals may face multiple layers of discrimination (misogyny, racism, homophobia, colonialism, transphobia, ageism and other prejudices),” wrote Veterans Affairs Canada. .When the conference was coming to an end, Assistant Deputy Minister at Veterans Affairs Amy Meunier, wrapped things up by criticizing the fact that a First and Second World War commemoration program for veterans was dominated by white men. “When I first joined the department we had a wonderful program, Heroes Remembered. It didn’t occur to me for a very long time, I was always seeing older white men from World War I and World War II,” said Meunier.
