Organizational change in Canadian public institutions: The implementations of GBA+ in DND/CAF

Abstract

In 2016, the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) committed to the adoption of a Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) toolkit across the forces. This article finds that the organizational culture of DND/CAF has helped them to adapt to this new policy approach, but that learning and transformation are not occurring. Based on DND/CAF documents, published internal DND/CAF studies, participant observation, interviews, surveys, and focus groups with DND/CAF staff, this article suggests that internal efforts to adjust to GBA+ continue to be challenging because of organizational culture.Sommaire : En 2016, le ministère de la Défense nationale (MDN) et les Forces armées canadiennes (FAC) se sont engagés à adopter une trousse d'analyse comparative entre les sexes plus (ACS+) à l'échelle des forces. Dans cet article, nous découvrons que même si la culture organisationnelle des MDN/FAC leur a permis de s'adapter à cette nouvelle approche politique, l'apprentissage et la transformation n'ont pas lieu. En se fondant sur des documents des MDN/FAC, des études internes publiées des MDN/FAC, l'observation de participants, des entrevues, des sondages, et des groupes de discussion avec le personnel des MDN/FAC, cet article laisse entendre que les efforts internes pour s'adapter à l'ACS+ restent difficiles à cause de la culture organisationnelle.

The Canadian Impact Assessment Act and intersectional analysis: Exaggerated tensions, fierce resistance, little understanding

“…While it is certainly true that many men who work in resource industries are respetful of women, these types of comments ignore the structural inequities of colonization, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia-articulated clearly by witnesses who appeared before the House and Senate Committees-that contribute to the welldocumented experiences of violence and harassment that GBA+ means to make visible. These types of fierce resistance in the legislative sphere reflect some of the wider patterns noted in the mainstreaming literature on resistance in bureaucratic structures (e.g., Johnstone & Momani, 2019;Stratigaki, 2005).…”

“…Relatively recently, the Canadian Auditor General (2015) highlighted that even though progress has been made on implementing gender-based analysis and now GBA+, its application is still uneven and incomplete. Johnstone and Momani (2019) find that realizing GBA+ commitments in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces is hampered by the organizational culture and "serious resistance" (p. 521) of some members of the senior leadership. Similar implementation challenges have been documented in European countries that have mandated gender mainstreaming (Daly, 2005).…”

“…In Canada, this problem is compounded by a distinct lack of GBA+ capacity and expertise in the federal public service (Scala & Paterson, 2017, 2018). Even those responsible for implementing GBA+ in their departments and agencies, such as in DND/CAF, and who have received training on GBA+, still critique it as “vague… ‘esoteric,’ [and] ‘blurry’” (Johnstone & Momani, 2019, p. 521). In part, this reflects a larger challenge of the mainstreaming model, where “responsibility for policy formulation lies with different people and departments than those in charge of the policies' actual implementation” (Meier & Celis, 2011, p. 473).…”

Integrating gender expertise into the Canadian Armed Forces: challenges for change agents and culture change

“…Although Canadian military personnel receive training on gender perspectives at various junctures throughout their career, the CAF offers no tailored GENAD training for Canadian military members (see Johnstone and Momani, 2019 ). Instead, CAF GENADs receive a 2-week course at the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations (NCGM), which is administered by the Swedish Armed Forces.…”

Gender Mainstreaming in the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence: Lessons on the Implementation of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+)

“…These supports included the training of more specialized personnel as either gender focal points-"[m]ilitary or civilian personnel appointed within the branches at a headquarters level, and within units on a tactical level, to integrate gender perspectives within the plans, tasks and evaluations of their branches and units" (Global Affairs Canada [GAC], 2018, p. 16) or GENADs (described above). The training of gender focal points began in June 2018 (Johnstone & Momani, 2019). 7 Of these support personnel, gender focal points are the most commonly allocated role and are meant to dedicate 10%-15% of their time to GBAþ.…”