By Nathan Stone,
Trident staff
A new health clinic dedicated to serving the needs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) members in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) took the spotlight as Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax marked Black History Month on February 25.
The event, hosted by the Halifax region Defence Visible Minorities Advisory Group (DVMAG) focused on health, wellness, cultural awareness and inclusive leadership aimed at highlighting the unique challenges faced by diverse communities.
Verena Rizg, a nurse practitioner at Canadian Forces Health Service Centre Atlantic (CF H Svcs C(A)), is the founder of the base’s BIPOC health clinic and spoke on the positive impact of the initiative since it began last year.
The clinic, which is the first of its kind for the CAF, seeks to serve the unique health needs of BIPOC members by connecting them with health care providers who understand their situations and can aid them in a way that reflects their lived experiences.
Rizg says she’s treated BIPOC CAF members who have experienced physical, sexual or verbal abuse or have been previously misdiagnosed. She added that standard Canadian medical practices often do not consider the complex realities of BIPOC people.
Race, culture, migration, spirituality, sexual orientation and neurodivergence all play a role in health outcomes, says Rizg, and victims of racism are more likely to develop health problems.
“We now know that racism, physiologically, makes us sick… A study was done to retrospectively follow people’s whole lifespans, same social background, same school, same university careers, same professional careers, same neighborhoods and [the study found] people who are Black persistently die prematurely. So, we know that it’s not just making us sick, it’s literally killing people earlier.”
From a military perspective, Rizg says these services for BIPOC members can help strengthen the CAF, noting that members who have timely access to the health care they need are far less likely to seek early release.
“What are the operational risks of inaction? Poor health outcomes, loss of talent and loss of readiness. We are losing incredibly brilliant, talented, and skilled members. There are litigation costs, and we’re seeing an erosion of trust.”
The BIPOC clinic also offers a range of services beyond personal health care, including consultations on how to address racial trauma and foster belonging, training for health care providers on racially informed care and connecting CAF members with outside organizations that can provide additional services.
Rizg says she’s working toward establishing the BIPOC health clinic as a national program available to racialized CAF members across the country.
“When we invest in the wellbeing of all service members, we create a stronger, more resilient and mission ready force.”
The base also welcomed Lieutenant (N) (Ret’d) Reverend Lennett Anderson for the event. Anderson is the Senior Pastor of Emmanual Baptist Church in Hammonds Plains, Lecturer in Leadership and Racial Justice at Acadia Divinity College, and a former Unit Chaplain with His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Scotian.
He discussed the need to continue fostering inclusion in the CAF with an emphasis on how the forces can “cultivate Black excellence,” from within.
Anderson highlighted the progress that he’s seen in the CAF in addressing racial inequality and said that while there is still work to do, the commitment of the organization to fighting against racism is a cause for celebration.
Sharing stories of his early military career in the ‘90s, Anderson noted the challenges he faced being Black in the CAF, from struggling to find someone who knew how to cut his hair to having a white senior officer try and put out a cigar in his hand.
He says he learned to be resilient towards the discrimination he faced, as Black Canadians have had to do for hundreds of years. He described that resiliency is a testament to the strength and endurance of Black communities.
“Those who counted us out can’t count. We’re still here.”
