Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: Delivery of the National Apology
Video / April 16, 2026
Transcript
Capt (Navy) Kelly Williamson: The testimonies that we’ve heard today are important. Racism is not something that is far from us, but it is something that we need to recognize and transform together.
And now we come to the heart of today’s ceremony. We know that no single event or statement can erase pain or undo harm, but this moment represents a commitment to face truth with humility and to continue the work of healing and change together.
I have the honour of welcoming General Jennie Carignan, who will present the apologies for systemic racism.
Gen Jennie Carignan: Bonjour. Good afternoon. Hello. Members of the CAF, serving and veterans, Mme Jean, Contre-Amiral. Thank you for organizing today.
We know that this is a truly historic day for the Canadian Armed Forces, and thank you for those who have organized. Thank you, Kelly, for organizing this ceremony.
Mr. McCann and I are in front of you today with a lot of humility. We are quite humbled by the responsibility we have this afternoon of doing better, but also getting better. To everyone joining us in person or virtually across Canada and around the world, thank you for participating today, for joining us to witness this moment. And I’m going to need a little help, folks.
Today is a significant milestone in the history of the Canadian Armed Forces, and it is also a very difficult day – a day on which we are confronting a painful truth, that our institution caused harm to countless people it was meant to support and respect. Our great institution stands on a foundation of fundamental values – values that should be in turn manifest in the daily words and deeds of every one of our members. Systemic racism, racial discrimination and harassment are an affront to these values, and yet, we allowed these injustices to occur and fester within our ranks. And as individuals, whether this stems from ignorance, indifference, complacency or complicity is not an excuse. It was a clear betrayal of everything we stand for.
This situation was cause for Canadians to lose trust in our Armed Forces and to dull their support for us and to question our ability to carry out our mission. Even more importantly, it has caused harm to individuals, our colleagues, our teammates. As we have heard today, the mental health struggles, the loss of opportunity and the erosion of dignity are real and enduring.
For way too long, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Black, Asians and other racialized members of the CAF faced systemic barriers that limited their ability to serve, contribute and thrive as equal members, and too often, mistreated and even abused at the hands of their fellow members. They faced exclusion, inequity and injustice. Speaking personally, what I have learned has broken my heart. It has filled me with sadness, anger, but then the resolve to do much better. But also humility, because I acknowledge the role that Canadian Armed Forces leadership at all levels played in allowing this injustice to occur, that it has blighted the service of so many brave Canadians and caused such deep and lasting harm.
I know that today’s apology cannot reverse the suffering experienced by so many of our teammates for so long. But we offer it honestly and with sincerity, with a deep desire to do better – a deep desire to learn from the past and to chart a better future, where every Canadian feels welcome to serve and find the experience of service to be rich, rewarding, and fulfilling in a measure that meets the generosity of spirit, the courage, and the patriotism with which it is offered.
Therefore, on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces, I offer my most sincere and deepest apologies. I apologize to every CAF member, veteran, who experienced racism, discrimination and harassment, and I acknowledge we failed you.
On behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces, I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies. I apologize to every CAF member and veteran who experienced racism, discrimination and harassment, and I acknowledge we failed you.
We failed to live up to the values that we project and promote around the world every day by not addressing our failure to uphold them within our own ranks. We failed to protect your dignity and well-being.
In too many cases, we failed to create the environment in which you could serve your country to the extent of your dedication, determination, and pride. And I apologize for the silence, for the indifference, and for the systemic failures that allowed this to continue for so many years.
To every single member of the Canadian Armed Forces, at every rank level, on every base, wing, station, operation and deployment, I say today’s apology is a milestone in our history, but it is just that; it’s a milestone, and it does not represent an end point. It is a path we have set ourselves on along a difficult and much longer journey that we must undertake together, a journey of reflection and of self-awareness, of understanding, and allyship. And we are not afraid. We’re going to do this. We can do this. If there is an organization that can do this, it is us, because of who we are.
Today’s apology is not the end of our work. It shows that we have a renewed commitment to improve every day and to have constant efforts, and we want the Canadian Armed Forces to be untainted by systemic racism and the discrimination that results. So we must make sure our actions match our words. It is one thing to say every member of our organization must be treated with equal compassion, dignity, and respect; it’s another thing altogether to demonstrate it day in and day out, to truly live it and make it the lived experience of everyone in uniform. So, my expectations are clear. This vigilance, these actions, are necessary at all levels.
I know we all know that an apology that is not accompanied by a tangible effort to address our failures, to remedy wrongs by better being in the future, would be hollow and without real meaning. To this end, on behalf of everyone in the Canadian Armed Forces, I renew our commitment to ensure we remain vigilant in precluding systemic barriers that could block an individual’s participation in military service, to addressing biases at every level, individual and institutional, to ensuring that awareness of systemic racism is integrated into our recruitment and training, and to doing all we can to make service in the military a meaningful and rewarding career so that those who join feel inspired to serve – because it is under the shadow of ignorance regarding systemic racism that individual racist activity and attitudes flourish.
All of you who have experienced these prejudices, for those of you who have told us your stories, for those who are here today – we see you, we hear you, and we will honour this apology through sustained action. This is now our collective fight. You are no longer alone. We stand as witness to the anger and despair that have shaped and burdened your experience, and as an institution, we accept the responsibility for it. We will continue to address this challenge in meaningful ways as allies in the cause of fairness and equity. We will, and we must, do this work alongside people with lived experience of racism, discrimination, and harassment. It cannot be done without you. Where trust has been eroded, we will work to rebuild it.
We will not tolerate backlash against this work nor will we abide by false narratives that we no longer need to be vigilant. Racism has no place in the CAF, it cannot be tolerated, and it has no place in our future, and we will not accept excuses that undermine real change. Our work in the Canadian Armed Forces is the highest of all callings, risking all in defence of our country and our fellow Canadians, their safety and their security, their values and their prosperity. An equally high calling though is defending the dignity of every person who wears a uniform. This is the future to which we aspire, a military that is even more worthy of the pride our racialized members feel in their service despite the treatment they endured, a CAF that deserves the support, the respect and the trust of the nation.
Thank you. Merci. Miigwetch.
Capt (Navy) Kelly Williamson: Thank you, General Carignan.
I now ask Chief Warrant Officer Bob McCann, Chief Warrant Officer of the Canadian Armed Forces, to speak.
CWO Bob McCann: Your Excellency, Elder Dumont, distinguished guests, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, but also affected members for whom we are here today. Good afternoon.Bonjour. Kwe.
I stand before you today with humility and also with a heavy heart – as I echo the deep regrets expressed by our Chief of Defence Staff, générale Carignan, but also as I listen to the stories that were told this afternoon. And we only heard a portion of stories because each and every one of you in this room have a story that you can tell, and we will need to hear those stories eventually. As Canadian Armed Forces Chief Warrant Officer, my duty is clear. My duty is to uphold and embody the values we are sworn to defend, but it’s more than that. It is my responsibility to ensure that every member of our Forces feels seen, heard, respected and protected.
Each person in uniform needs to know that they have a place, that our members feel that they can be themselves completely at work, to be able to move ahead in their full potential, and to serve in an environment rooted in trust, dignity, and safety – physical, emotional, as well as mental.
Today, we speak a difficult truth. For far too many in our ranks, this has not been the reality. As the Canadian Armed Forces’ Chief Warrant Officer, I represent the senior non-commissioned members, I represent our junior ranks, and together, we form the backbone of the Canadian Armed Forces. And on our behalf, to you, I say this: we acknowledge that racism and discrimination have caused real harm.
As we’ve seen in the testimonies this afternoon, members have been diminished, disrupted, denied opportunities, trust has been shattered, and promising careers with many possibilities have been cut short. Unfortunately, these were not isolated events; these were symptoms of a deeper issue, a systemic failure that has persisted for much too long. This has weakened our unity, it has compromised our mission. Some of these harms happened in silence, unseen, except for the victim and the perpetrator; others were open, yet tolerated, or worse, were excused.
You have endured terrible injustice that should have never happened. You were let down, suffered racist act of both omission and commission flowing from a systemic racism that was able to flourish because your leadership did not do enough to confront it, to condemn it or to put an end to it.
This is our failure, not yours. You should never have had to carry this burden. And we know that the impact hasn’t only stopped at your careers; it has affected your mental health, it has rippled through your families, your friendships, and your communities – and in some cases, it lasted for way too long.
On behalf of the leadership of the Canadian Armed Forces, I offer a full and heartfelt apology – an apology to every member who endured racism, an apology to everyone who faced discrimination. I am so sorry for what you have been put through and what you have to endure.
On behalf of the leadership of the Canadian Armed Forces, I offer a full and heartfelt apology to every member who endured racism, to every one of you who faced discrimination. I am deeply sorry for what you had to experience and for what you went through.
I’m sorry for every time your voice was met with silence. I’m sorry for every moment you were meant to feel invisible. I’m sorry for every time a fellow member, often someone in a position of leadership, chose to look away or turn a blind eye.
I am sorry for the slights, the disrespect we had towards you, for the moments when you were dismissed because of your identity, or when your loyalty was questioned.
You gave your best to this institution, you gave your best to this country and you gave your best to your teams, and you deserve far better than what you have received. But an apology, as important as it is, is not enough. Repairing the harm will take more than words – it will require each of us, at every level, to become more informed, more aware, and more accountable.
As leaders, it requires that we live the values that we speak, and we must demand the same of all those around us. This will require a continued transformation of our culture, from the classroom to the cockpit, to the command post, on every base, in every wing, on every ship and for each deployment.
This will not be easy, but like généraleCarignan mentioned, if there’s an organization that can do this, it is our organization, because of who we are and because of the great people that we have when we come together and have this unity. It means confronting hard truths, it means having difficult conversations and committing to real measurable change. I’m extremely proud to wear this uniform. I’m equally proud to serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. And with today’s apology and the actions that must follow, my deepest hope is that everybody in the Canadian Armed Forces, regardless who they are, regardless where they came from, can say the same thing.
Thank you. Merci. Miigwetch.
| Preview | Video |
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Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: Opening Remarks and Territorial Welcome |
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Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: Sgt (Ret'd) Wendy Jocko |
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Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: Capt (Ret’d) Kevin Junor |
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Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: LCdr (Ret’d) Albert Wong |
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Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean |
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Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: Delivery of the National Apology |
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Canadian Armed Forces Apology for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment: Closing Remarks |