Soldiers Resistant to Culture Change in Armed Forces Must Be ‘Educated’ or ‘Move Along’: Defence Chief

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre waits to appear before the Standing Commitee on National Defence to provide a briefing on the mandate and priorities of the minister of national defence, in Ottawa on Sept. 28, 2023. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Soldiers who resist the military’s culture overhaul and “cannot be educated” should “move along,” says Canada’s top general.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre made the comments during his testimony before the House of Commons defence committee on May 8. Gen. Eyre is set to retire in the coming months.

The top general was involved in pushing for major changes to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) culture related to issues like sexual misconduct and so-called systemic racism.

Gen. Eyre was asked by Liberal MP and committee member Chad Collins what advice he has for his successor in dealing with a “small group of people who just can’t see the path forward” as the CAF tries to change its culture on an “accelerated time frame.”

“This is an issue that has popped up over the course of my tenure where there’s the pockets of resistance that you talked about,” Gen. Eyre said.

“If they cannot be brought along, if they cannot be educated—and often it’s a case of education—but if they refuse to change for the betterment of the institution, well, they have to move along as well.”

The CAF has adopted postmodern critical theories and social justice ideology to overhaul its culture, the Department of National Defence (DND) has previously confirmed to The Epoch Times.

Those include quasi-Marxist critical race theory, which pits groups of oppressed and oppressors against one another based on race instead of classes and seeks to dismantle the system perceived to be based on “white supremacy.”

Gender theory has also been integrated, resulting in CAF members having the liberty to choose the type of dress uniform they wish to wear, notwithstanding their sex.

The whole suite of critical theory concepts has been adopted by the organization’s Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture, currently Lt.-Gen. Jenny Carignan.

Some of the impacts of the cultural change became apparent around the time of Remembrance Day in November 2023, when The Epoch Times first reported the CAF’s decision to ban military chaplains from public prayer at official events.

“It is essential for chaplains to adopt a sensitive and inclusive approach when publicly addressing military members,” said the directive signed in October 2023 by the Chaplain General, Brigadier-General Guy Bélisle. The directive on chaplains’ “spiritual reflection in public settings” also removed religious crests from chaplains’ scarves.

“Chaplains must consider the potential that some items or symbols may cause discomfort or traumatic feelings when choosing the dress they wear during public occasions,” the directive said.

Under public and political pressure, Brig.-Gen. Bélisle later backtracked, allowing chaplains to pray for that year’s Remembrance Day ceremony, and said the policy would be revisited.

Retain ‘Fundamentals’

While Gen. Eyre has pushed for deep cultural change within the institution, he also told the committee that some aspects of the military’s culture should “absolutely” be retained.

He identified those as the willingness to put oneself in harm’s way to protect others, the willingness to leave one’s family behind and “go to the other side of the world to do good for this country,” as well as the willingness to follow orders.

“Those fundamentals, we absolutely have to retain as part of who we are, and as part of the operational effectiveness to deliver for Canada.”

The general also told MPs that he is leaving an institution “on the upswing.” This was shortly after Defence Minister Bill Blair called the personnel situation in the armed forces a “death spiral,” with more soldiers leaving than being recruited.

“Despite all the challenges, the dark clouds on the horizon, the deteriorating security situation that we face around the world, I am confident that this institution is on the right path,” said Gen. Eyre.

The general said that for first time in the last three years, the recently closed fiscal year saw growth in the ranks of the regular force and the reserve.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that those changes that we’ve made in our system and continue to make in recruiting and retention are bearing fruit,” he said.

CAF total strength numbers provided by DND for fiscal year 2023–24 indicate the regular force had 63,699 personnel, an increase of 210 over the previous year. Meanwhile, the reserve had 29,135 troops, an increase of 1,018 troops over the previous year.

This comes after the CAF lost 6,458 troops during the COVID-19 years, from fiscal 2020–21 to 2022–23, in what appears to be a significant peacetime drop.

Mr. Blair told the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence on March 7 that the CAF is short nearly 16,000 troops.

Editor’s note: this article was updated with recent data provided by DND.