The Impact of Discrimination Scandals in the Canadian Military on Public Opinion

• In Event: Civil-Military Relations in a Changing Society: Institutions and Interests

Abstract

Do stories of discrimination in militaries affect public support for militaries and their material needs? However, preliminary data is showing that professional ethics - or a public’s belief that armed forces engage in ethical behaviour - does have an incidence on trust in militaries (Feaver, 2023). Using Canada as a case study, we have conducted a survey experiment exposing respondents to treatments on discrimination against historically excluded groups in the military (First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Francophones, LGBTQ2S+, people of colour, and women) and how these impacted public trust in the military, their support for defence spending, and perception of the Canadian armed forces as an employer of choice. Our findings indicate that those issues do matter to the public and have a consequential impact on trust and material support for the Canadian military. This study provides more support for the effort to change the culture and institutions of the armed forces to make them more inclusive—what militaries need to do to retain the trust necessary to survive.

Authors

• Stephen M. Saideman, Carleton University

• Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, Canadian Global Affairs Institute

• Jean-Christophe Boucher, University of Calgary