27 décembre 2023 | Local, Aérospatial
Delivery of Canada's F-35 fighter jets could be delayed — extra costs possible
Delivery of F-35 aircraft ordered by Canada and other allies could be delayed because of ongoing technical problems
17 janvier 2019 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre
Canadian military falling well short of its target for recruiting women
Murray Brewster · CBC News
New statistics also show efforts to bring in more Indigenous, visible minority recruits failing
The Canadian military has barely moved the needle on its ambitious plan to recruit more women, just over a year after the Liberal government introduced its gender-focused defence policy, new figures reveal.
The stated intention of Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance was to have women make up 25 per cent of the Armed Forces by 2025-26.
Statistics released by the Office of the Chief of Military Personnel show that while the number of female recruits coming through the door has increased slightly, it has not been enough to boost overall representation.
As of the end of April, women made up only 15.4 per cent of both the combined regular and reserve forces.
The story is the same for Indigenous Canadians and visible minorities — those recruitment numbers remain just as anemic as they have been for several years. Indigenous Canadians make up about 2.8 per cent of the Armed Forces; DND has set a goal of getting that share up to 3.5 per cent. Visible minorities make up 8.2 per cent; the target percentage is 11.8.
But the military and the Liberal government have more political capital invested in the effort to get more women into uniform. It's central to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mantra of gender equality, and to Canada's desire to put women at the heart of a reformed international peacekeeping system.
The drive to recruit more women comes as the military attempts to overhaul its culture in the wake of a damning report in 2015 by retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps, who said a "sexualized culture" within the military was behind an endemic problem with sexual harassment and misconduct.
Female recruitment picking up — but slowly
There were 860 women enrolled in the military in the last fiscal year, which ended on March 31 — an increase of eight per cent over the previous year.
It's not enough, said the chief of military personnel.
"Those are still not meeting the number we need to have in order to meet the 25 per cent target and we're conscious of that," Lt.-Gen. Chuck Lamarre told CBC News in an interview.
The slow pace of female recruitment has forced senior brass to take more direct control, he said.
"We recognize it's going to take a much more disciplined approach, a much more targeted approach to go get more women, more visible minority and more Aboriginal folks to come join the Canadian Armed Forces," said Lamarre, who insisted the Armed Forces can still hit the target, which was first established in early 2016.
The direction from Vance back then had been to increase the representation of women in the forces by one per cent per year over a decade. The new statistics show the military has seen healthy increases in the number of women applying to be officers, or to join the navy or air force.
But National Defence is having a harder time convincing women to join the army, and to become non-commissioned members of the rank and file.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said it will take time, but there signs of change, notably the desire of women to become officers and leaders, a cultural shift that the DesChamps report said is necessary.
"As time goes on, I am confident we will be successful," Sajjan said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning from Vietnam. "We are very happy that we are recruiting women into leadership roles."
Lamarre said he believes the military is fighting against perceptions about the kind of career being offered.
"People have a tendency to self-select out before they give it a shot, and I think that's a mistake," he said, pointing to the military's struggle to get women to consider signing up for trades such as aircraft, vehicle and maritime mechanics.
"We are attracting more women into the officer corps, but I think we need to broaden that even more. Part of it is demystifying some of those occupations. Some of them look to be hard and exclusively centred towards men. That's not the case at all. We have some great examples of women who are operating in every occupation."
Military's image problem persists
Others — DesChamps among them — argue that the perception of the military as a tough place to be a woman hasn't gone away.
Despite the military's high-profile campaign to stamp out misconduct — known as Operation Honour — and the increasing number of sexual assault cases being tried in the military justice system, many say that little has changed when it comes to the macho nature of military culture.
"In the last three years, in my opinion, more could have been done" to stop harassment and make the military a more welcoming career choice for women, Deschamps told the Senate defence committee last week.
"What I have seen is, not a lot of progress has been made."
The federal government has faced two class-action lawsuits launched by survivors of sexual assault and misconduct in the military.
The cases entered settlement discussions last winter after it was revealed government lawyers filed a statement of defence that said National Defence "does not owe members of the Canadian Armed Forces any duty to protect them from sexual harassment and assault."
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26 septembre 2018 | Local, Sécurité
Artificial intelligence at border could infringe on human rights: report
By Anna Desmarais Using artificial intelligence at Canada's official points of entry can lead to serious human rights violations, according to a new report. Released Wednesday by the University of Toronto's International Human Rights Program (IHRP) and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the report says the use of artificial intelligence (AI) at regular points of entry is “quite risky” without appropriate government oversight. “We know that, in other contexts, AI is not neutral,” report author Petra Molnar told iPolitics. “It's basically like a recipe. If your recipe is biased, then the result that is going to come out of the algorithm is also going to be biased.” What these technologies could do, according to the report, is decide whether a marriage is genuine, an application is complete, or whether someone entering the country is deemed “a risk” to public safety. If the government doesn't provide more oversight, such decisions could rely on appearance, religion, or travel patterns as “proxies” for more relevant data normally gathered by immigration officials. This could compromise some quintessential human rights for immigrants and refugees at the border, including the right to equality and to be protected from discrimination under the law. The report says AI machines could be taught algorithms for how to assess “red flags,” “risks,” and “frauds” based on pre-existing biases in some of the immigration and refugee system's current regulations. For example, the report said the Designated Country of Origin list, which classifies which countries are “safe” for refugee claimants, uses an “incomplete” definition of safety that does not take into account specific risks for minority groups, such as women or members of the LGBTQ community. The use of AI technologies could mean cases are likely to be determined only based on these types of guidelines and might not include the discretion and empathy employed by immigration officials when reviewing the details of a refugee claim. “Depending on how an algorithm is designed, it may result in indirect discrimination,” the report found. “The complexity of human migration is not easily reducible to an algorithm.” If someone is triaged or flagged for early deportation, it could also affect their ability to apply for a visa, appeal a negative immigration ruling, or continue to move between borders. AI technologies also bring up procedural-rights issues, such as how a potential immigrant or refugee claimant would challenge the outcome of his case at the border. “When you introduce AI, if you don't agree with the decision, where do you appeal? And what kind of appeal are you crafting?” Molnar said. “These are all new questions we have to ask ourselves.” The report found that the government has been experimenting with artificial intelligence since 2014. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada confirmed to the report's authors in June it was already using an automated response to “triage,” or separate, simple claims from complicated ones that need further review. This summer, the government sent out an RFI (a preliminary procurement document) seeking an “Artificial Intelligence Solution” to provide legal support for migrants entering at formal points of entry. These investments fit into the federal government's $125-million Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy to “develop global thought leadership on the economic, ethical, policy and legal implications” of AI research throughout the country. Molnar said she heard from government officials that their use of AI is “preliminary” at best. What the government is considering, she continued, is using AI technologies only for preliminary screening. After AI technologies have reviewed a case, Molnar said immigration officers should still be asked to review the decision and make any appropriate changes. Molnar said it's still too soon to tell what AI could look like at the borders, but noted the technological changes could be vast. “It can be as simple as an Excel sheet, all the way to totally autonomous robots in other sectors,” she continued. “In immigration, how this could manifest ... could include a triage system where a traveller might be designated a high risk or low risk, or streamed for high risk and low risk.” To solve these possible human-rights infringements, the report suggests installing an independent, arms-length government-oversight body to “engage in all aspects of oversight,” before the government continues to develop these technologies. This recommendation, Molnar said, is in line with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's review into responsible use of AI throughout government offices. Among other recommendations, the board suggests more transparency from government offices about when AI technologies will be used during a discretionary decision-making process. The report notes this suggestion “is promising, from a human-rights perspective,” but the document is non-binding and is still subject to change. Until the review body is created, the report suggests government freeze “all efforts to procure, develop or adopt” any new automated-decision-system technology before a government oversight process is in place. https://ipolitics.ca/2018/09/26/artificial-intelligence-at-border-could-infringe-on-human-rights-report/