Louise Arbour derided soldiers as "white boys" who "don't like women"
Carney's pick to be the next Governor General disparaged Canadian soldiers as "white boys who like guns but don't like women or anybody who doesn't look like them."
With files from Clayton DeMaine.
Former Supreme Court of Canada justice and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pick for Governor General, Louise Arbour, derided Canadian soldiers as “white boys who like guns and don’t like women” while overseeing an inquiry into the Canadian Armed Forces in 2022.
The comment appeared in a Maclean’s profile on Arbour published in July of that year.
In the interview, Arbour argued Canada’s military risks perpetuating a restrictive internal culture if it continues recruiting what she described as “white boys.”
She said the Armed Forces should rely more on external institutions, including human rights bodies and academia, to advance diversity within the ranks.
“The military could use external partners like the Canadian Human Rights Commission. It could also bring in experts from the civil corporate sector or send cadets to civilian universities, where diversity is years ahead of what we’ll ever see in military colleges,” said Arbour.
“If you just recruit white boys who like guns but don’t like women or anybody who doesn’t look like them, you’ll perpetuate that culture.”
