Institutions around the world are fully aware that it is important not only to increase diversity and inclusion – but to do so in a transparent and public way.
That’s probably why Canada’s new chief of defense staff made a proud statement this week about recent discussions at the highest levels of the country’s armed forces.
“Conversations about diversity, inclusion and changing culture are not incompatible with our thirst for operational excellence. I am counting on my senior leaders to defend cultural change ”, Admiral Art McDonald, recently wrote on Twitter. “Diversity strengthens us, inclusion improves our institution.”
Unfortunately, this poignant message was somewhat hampered by the photograph of the accompanying meeting – which showed eight white men sitting around a table.
A white woman – and another white man – were visible on a screen showing remote participants.
The post, intended to be a nod to the military’s efforts to address its shortcomings, went viral for all the wrong reasons.
“Are you talking about the diversity of hiring men with varying degrees of hair loss?” tweeted comedian Rob Gill.
“These white guys are very diverse. Some of them have no hair. One of them hates coriander, ”tweeted another user.
Others scoffed at the tweet’s vague and confused “soldier’s speech”.
“We can have our differences, but we can all agree that we are thirsty for operational excellence. Positively resected by the lack of operational excellence. Feeling dehydrated after talking about diversity, ”wrote journalist Vicky Mochama.
As criticism and mockery accumulated, McDonald, who served as senior military officer less than a month ago, later posted an apology.
“I listen to your comments and take them seriously. It is true: leadership … is, and historically has been, predominantly male and white. That needs to change, ”he wrote. “We need to reflect Canada’s diversity at all levels. We must work to eliminate systemic racism and dismantle the barriers that exist for career advancement. We are there with the mentality, but we know that there is still a lot of work to do and we are committed to doing it ”
Canada’s Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement that the country continues to struggle against “the legacy of systemic racism, discrimination and lack of inclusion”.
“Although the defense leadership is committed to increasing diversity in our ranks, mistakes like this show that there is still unintentional prejudice,” he wrote.