Defence minister says he wants to change the drinking culture on military bases
Defence Minister Bill Blair says the government has no plans to ban alcohol in the military, but he will speak to senior military leaders in the coming weeks about how to improve the culture at social establishments on military bases that serve alcohol.
A recent Statistics Canada survey found 33 per cent of military members who were sexually assaulted in 2022 believed the perpetrator’s use of alcohol or drugs was a contributing factor in the assault.
CBC News asked Blair about the survey and the military practice of requiring that all serving members belong to a military “mess.”
Messes traditionally are the centre of a military unit’s social interactions. They include bars and often feature dining areas, TVs and games areas.
A military member who contacted CBC News said they resent being compelled to join a mess and pay monthly fees to fund a drinking culture they don’t support.
Blair said Wednesday he wasn’t aware that service members are “compelled to actually join the mess.” He said he would look into it.
On Thursday, the Department of National Defence confirmed membership in messes is mandatory. Blair’s office said the minister would speak to military leaders about “what more can be done to build inclusive, safe mess cultures.”
“While we have no plans to ban alcohol in the Canadian Armed Forces, we do need to manage it better,” Blair’s office told CBC News in a media statement.
The government and the military have vowed to overhaul the military’s culture in response to a sexual misconduct crisis that saw a series of senior leaders in 2021 removed from prestigious posts. The crisis damaged morale and trust in the ranks.
When asked if the military has a problem with alcohol, Defence Minister Bill Blair says the government is looking at all circumstances that can give rise to inappropriate conduct in the military.
Sexual assaults more common during the holidays
The Canadian Forces have in the past reported a spike in sexual assaults during the month of December, corresponding with the holidays. Senior military leaders across the country were given new guidance to prevent sexual assaults this month, said Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan.
Carignan, who is tasked with changing the military’s culture, told CBC News alcohol is no longer supposed to be used as a team-building tool, military members are not supposed to be pressured to drink, and bases are expected to make non-alcoholic drinks available.
Carignan said she is not moving to ban alcohol on bases entirely because she believes that would move drinking to off-site parties without supervision.
The military’s Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan says new guidance has been issued to senior military leaders to prevent the overconsumption of alcohol during the holiday season, a time when sexual assaults on bases have been known to spike.
But some military members want the military to allow them to opt out of mandatory mess membership.
“I am obligated to pay $26.36 per month toward a bar that promotes a culture that I do not condone,” said one military officer. “I cannot opt out.
“I am not aware of any other workplace that requires all employees to subsidize a bar.”
Military members must have permission from their chain of command to conduct interviews. CBC News is not naming the service member, who said they could face repercussions for speaking out without authorization.
‘Military values and traditions’
The defence department says messes on military bases are “an important part of military life” that permit members to socialize and “engage in leisure activities, while at the same time continuing to promote military values and traditions.” The spaces are typically segregated by rank.
“All CAF members must belong to a mess appropriate to their rank,” defence department spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said in a statement to CBC News.
Mess members are “required to pay mess dues” to help pay for activities in the mess, the defence department said. Members are typically responsible for paying for their own drinks, multiple military members told CBC News.
Chief of defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre responds to a new Statistics Canada survey that tracked an increase in reported sexual assaults in the military last year.
Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute who researches culture change in the Canadian military, said “a lot of service members” are questioning the role of alcohol on bases and military leaders must address the problem head-on, despite the resistance they could face.
“It’s one of the more complex culture change pieces because of the amount of resistance you can get on this one, but it is one of the most critical,” said Duval-Lantoine.
“The military needs to address the drinking culture at the mess if they want to eradicate sexual misconduct as much as they want.”
‘A culture that promotes drinking’
Duval-Lantoine said she doesn’t feel the messes should close down entirely, but members shouldn’t be forced to join.
“A culture that promotes drinking is inherently a culture that is not inclusive,” she said.
The defence department said that in recent years, the military has moved to make messes “more community centred” with “activities ranging from children’s parties to social events to more formal functions.”
Retired vice-admiral Mark Norman said it’s time to have a “mature conversation” about the role of messes in 2023.
“Why would messes in their traditional sense be important to the Armed Forces?” he said. “The Armed Forces is going to have to answer that question and I think it’s entirely legitimate that question needs to be asked.”
In 2014, Norman announced a ban on alcohol consumption onboard navy ships abroad following incidents of misconduct. He made an exception for special occasions, or when ships are docked. He said he found that alcohol was considered a factor in 90 per cent of misconduct incidents in the navy at that time.
But Norman said banning alcohol entirely across the military is “not a useful approach” and would amount to “mass punishment.” He said the key is to create a climate of responsible consumption through leadership, supervision and training.
He said he’s also heard from a number of service members — some of whom are struggling financially — who are not happy they have to pay mess dues.
“I don’t know that the historical and traditional intent of these messes, as part of the institution of the Armed Forces, are as relevant in 2023 as they were in 1993 or 1973,” he said.
‘Society has a problem with alcohol’ — Blair
Blair’s office said drinking at mess events is not mandatory and service members should not be pressured to do so. When asked if the military has a problem with alcohol, Blair has said in the past that “society has a problem with alcohol.”
“We’re looking at all the circumstances that can give rise to this grossly inappropriate conduct and how we eliminate it from the experience in the workplace and in the lives of the members serving in our forces,” Blair said Wednesday.
A former military member who reported being groped by her platoon commander at a mess dinner and a longtime military law expert who represents victims of sexual assault are among those who have called on the military to ban serving alcohol on bases to prevent sexual assault.
Earlier this week, Blair also offered an update on the government’s efforts to change the military’s culture in response to the sexual misconduct crisis.
Blair said that, to date, the government has followed through on 17 out of 48 recommendations in retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour’s final report in 2022. The government tasked Arbour with reviewing the military’s culture.
Blair said that by the new year, 19 recommendations would be completed. They include no longer using the term “sexual misconduct,” a phrase Arbour said is too vague. Instead, the forces will use language such as “sexual assault.”
Arbour’s key recommendation — to strip the military of its jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute sexual offences — will be implemented early in the new year, Blair said. Last month, Blair said he hoped to change the law before the new year.
Blair also announced he has appointed Michelle Douglas as the military’s first honorary colonel for “professional conduct and culture.” Douglas is a human rights advocate who launched a landmark legal challenge against the military’s discriminatory policies regarding LGBTQ community service members.
Douglas was honourably discharged in 1989 from the Canadian Armed Forces for being “not advantageously employable due to homosexuality,” the defence department said in a press release.
