The CF is becoming a cheap welfare form of support by bringing in all these Aboriginals. We are here to maintain a military tradition, a tradition comprised of uniformity. This tradition and uniformity doesn t exist anymore because women are allowed to have long hair, some women are physically unfit. If you try to discipline them they cry and yell sexual harassment. The culture of the Canadian Forces relies on building solidarity through uniformity.
Equity is seen as equality, and equality is seen as sameness.
Because employment equity may require doing things differently, it is perceived by some that this means doing things less reliably. Those CF members who hold these views need to understand that equity is about leveraging differences to create a stronger team, thereby enhancing operational effectiveness. In the midst of such fears and misperceptions lies the reality that Aboriginal peoples and members of visible minorities, and to a lesser extent women, are not very visible within the CF community as shown by the charts on page 10. It becomes more difficult to change the myths and alleviate the fears when the numbers remain small. Still further, because relevant data is not kept respecting members of the designated groups, it is difficult to advance empirical arguments to counter the misperceptions.