As he settles in to the corner office in Ottawa害羞草研究所檚 National Defence headquarters, Bill Blair is feeling pretty comfortable in his new role.

This is his fourth ministerial job since 2018, when he was put in charge of border security and organized crime reduction. Blair has also overseen the departments of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness 害羞草研究所� roles where he害羞草研究所檚 been in close contact with the military.

害羞草研究所淚 want to make sure that they have the support, the resources, the training, the equipment that they need in order to be there for Canadians,害羞草研究所� Blair said in an interview.

Anita Anand害羞草研究所檚 departure as defence minister less than two years after she took over, pledging to change the military害羞草研究所檚 culture and tackle the sexual misconduct crisis that had seen a slate of top generals removed from their positions, came as a surprise to many.

When the cabinet shuffle was announced, she and Blair both seemed prepared to respond to questions about the optics of replacing a woman of colour with a 69-year-old man.

害羞草研究所淚 have no doubt in my mind that he understands, given his experience, large organizations and how they work,害羞草研究所� Anand told reporters.

When he faced the media shortly after, Blair also touted his experience as chief of the Toronto Police Service from 2005 to 2015.

害羞草研究所淲e actually created the most diverse police service of any police service in Canada and one of the most diverse in North America,害羞草研究所� he said, adding that he has the experience of 害羞草研究所渨orking through a significant cultural change in a uniform organization.害羞草研究所�

That raised eyebrows among those who have been closely watching the military害羞草研究所檚 reform efforts to date.

害羞草研究所淒iversity doesn害羞草研究所檛 mean culture change,害羞草研究所� said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute who wrote a book about toxic culture in the military.

害羞草研究所淭his is what we saw with women害羞草研究所檚 integration in the 1990s, for example. Women were added to the military but their value and their contribution as women were not valued to the same extent 害羞草研究所� and we害羞草研究所檙e still reckoning with this problem today.害羞草研究所�

Toronto police are still reckoning with systemic racism. The Ontario Human Rights Commission found in a 2020 report that Black residents were more likely than white residents to be hurt or killed by police.

Almost 25 per cent of all Special Investigations Unit cases about a death, injury or alleged sexual assault by police involved Black people, the report found. Black people represented 32 per cent of charges in the data from 2013 to 2017, though they make up just shy of nine per cent of the population.

That issue was well-recognized when Blair was in charge.

Alok Mukherjee, police services board chair at the time, said there was a lot of positive change in his early years. The force hired the first hijab-wearing officer, for example.

害羞草研究所淚n spite of these efforts, the organization was still treating racialized people 害羞草研究所� Black people particularly 害羞草研究所� differently. That racial profiling had not gone away,害羞草研究所� Mukherjee said.

In response, he said, the police services board tried to bring in a 害羞草研究所渧ery strong害羞草研究所� policy to deal with racial profiling and so-called carding. Blair resisted.

害羞草研究所淧hilosophically, I think he was on board and he did make some of his own efforts to deal with it, but he was not prepared to accept the kind of fundamental change that the board, having heard from the community, was directing him to implement,害羞草研究所� Mukherjee said.

害羞草研究所淲hat I understood is that Mr. Blair can go only so far, but he has a respect for tradition. His favourite metaphor tended to be, 害羞草研究所榊ou can rock the boat, but don害羞草研究所檛 sink it.害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟

Blair bristled at questions about that, saying he disagrees with Mukherjee.

害羞草研究所淲e fundamentally changed our our recruiting systems, our employment systems, our staffing and training and development systems to make sure that people would have every opportunity to be successful and feel supported,害羞草研究所� he said.

When pressed on the difference between improving diversity within the ranks and making transformative culture change, Blair said there was 害羞草研究所渘ever any tolerance of any systemic discrimination害羞草研究所� when he was chief.

害羞草研究所淭hose more toxic elements, they害羞草研究所檙e not really part of of the culture of the Canadian Armed Forces. They can permeate and affect the culture, but those are the things that we have to remove while we retain all that is excellent about that commitment to service.害羞草研究所�

Mukherjee said Blair will need to stand up to the military害羞草研究所檚 top brass to make real change.

害羞草研究所淭hese organizations, whether it is the military or the police, which is paramilitary, are very inbred and tradition-bound. They don害羞草研究所檛 change the way they work easily,害羞草研究所� he said.

At the same time, the Armed Forces is facing other significant challenges. There害羞草研究所檚 the personnel shortage. More than 16,000 positions are vacant, and the military is ramping up recruitment and overhauling basic training to address what it calls a crisis.

The government has committed to send more soldiers to Latvia as part of a NATO mission, growing Canada害羞草研究所檚 presence to around 2,200 troops from 800 in coming years.

Aging equipment, a notoriously slow procurement process, and donations and purchases for the defence of Ukraine have combined to yield reports that soldiers are buying better gear off the shelf and that international allies are frustrated with Canada害羞草研究所檚 lack of commitment to NATO spending targets.

On top of everything else, natural disasters have become increasingly common and the military is being called upon to deal with floods, fires and hurricanes from coast to coast to coast.

Duval-Lantoine and Mukherjee both say they wish Blair well in his new job.

害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 a lot of work to be done in terms of relationship and trust building,害羞草研究所� Duval-Lantoine said.

害羞草研究所淚t might sound counterintuitive: We require continuity and a certain stability in the way that culture change is being pursued.害羞草研究所�

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press

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