EDMONTON — The Department of National Defence has awarded a grant to a University of Alberta professor to gauge the extent of white supremacy in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Political scientist Andy Knight will assess how entrenched radicalization, antisemitism, xenophobia and anti-Black sentiments are in Canada’s military and come up with suggested policy to respond.
In addition to interviewing military officials, he plans to assemble experts and policy makers from diverse backgrounds to understand what attracts white supremacists to the armed forces and devise strategies to weed them out.
“White supremacists seem to be infiltrating the military in Canada, and this poses a serious threat to Canada's national security,” wrote Knight in his successful proposal for a Targeted Engagement Grant from the DND’s Mobilizing Insights in Defence & Security Program (MINDS).
Knight is also the U of A’s first provost fellow in black excellence and leadership, a position in which he will work to combat anti-Black racism in the university as well as promote Black recruitment and retention, help identify and address inequities and support the development of curriculum in Black studies.
He pointed out that the armed forces received 143 complaints in 2020 about hateful conduct and xeno-racist attitudes within their ranks and that even the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency had a limited ability to identify white supremacists in the forces.
Knight says he became increasingly concerned about the prevalence of white supremacists in the armed forces during the Freedom Convoy’s occupation of Ottawa early in 2022, when news organizations reported that some protesters were active members of the military service.
“I could understand former members joining the protests,” he says. “Perhaps they were disillusioned. But we’re talking about people active in the military working against the Canadian state.”
After Knight gave a presentation to DND officials last fall, in which he drew attention to racism in their ranks, they encouraged him to submit a proposal. Individual cases of racism are not the main problem, says Knight.
“It lies in institutional racism as an embedded culture. You have to question, why is it that some people are attracted to the military?”
Knight says he has been given leeway to interview members of DND leadership as well as security and defence experts about their impressions of white supremacy in the armed forces and how it might be addressed.
He has one year to deliver his report, along with recommendations for change. He will also probe why previous policies to affect culture change have been largely ineffective.
The full story can be seen here. To arrange interviews with Andy Knight, please contact:
Ross Neitz | U of A media strategist | ross.neitz@ualberta.ca | 780-297-8354