The Deputy Minister’s Vlog: GBA+ Awareness Week
Transcript
Hello. This is Gender-based Analysis Plus Awareness Week. So, many of you are thinking about what is GBA+? GBA+ is a tool that helps us analyze the impacts of program, policy, procurement, policy on gender, on diversity and on inclusion.
It is a critical element of our program here and everything we do at National Defence. And you may ask why.
Well, the reality is, we each come from different backgrounds and it affects our view of things. It affects how we see policy, it affects how we need to interpret policy, it affects procurement: 5 foot tall, 6 foot 6. We have to have equipment that fits that range. And we haven’t always.
So, GBA+ guides us in a direction to be able to make responsible decisions that support all members in the Canadian Armed Forces in the Department of National Defence.
As an example, I come from a family where my mother worked. My father was in the military, my mother worked, she raised two children, we moved around a lot. That affects how I view the world, it affects how I view policy, it affects how I view the kinds of things we should be doing in the Department. And each of you have the same views as well because we’re who we are and we’re the product of our upbringings and our view of the country, policy and programs.
So, I encourage you to engage with your 85+ gender advisers who are out there in this department. I encourage you to engage with our champion for diversity, Rear Admiral Luc Cassivi, and I encourage you to find out what GBA means. Because it is the future of how we design things in this department.
We are about diversity. We are about inclusivity. We are about making this department a place where anybody and everybody could work and would want to work. And it starts with looking at who we are and making sure that we’re inclusive, we’re diverse and that we understand the range of human beings who flow through our doors.
That’s about the future of the Department of National Defence, and Gender-based Analysis Week is really an important part of that view. Thank you.
