Canadian Armed Forces: Celebrating Afro-Canadian Contributions and Calling on the Next Generation

ACAO Chief Servant, Hector-Addison, with ACAO President Emeritus, John-Adeyefa, 2nd left, in group picture with officers from the Canadian Armed Forces

Saturday 17 October 2026

Canadian Armed Forces: Celebrating Afro-Canadian Contributions and Calling on the Next Generation

By Onoshe Nwabuikwu, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) career fair scheduled for Saturday, October 17, 2026, was billed to last for two and a half hours, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The venue was the Holiday Inn on Joseph Cyr Street, Ottawa, and, on the face of it, the allotted time seemed short and perhaps insufficient. However, a lot of very useful and uplifting content was packed into that time. The event, organised by the African Canadian Association Ottawa (ACAO), in partnership with Joku Konbit and Friends of Sudan, aimed primarily at celebrating Afro-Canadian and Afro-Caribbean contributions to the Canadian Armed Forces. Several senior officers from the Canadian Armed Forces were in attendance to speak and inspire Black youth to join the CAF. The emcee, Gelila Geremew, welcomed guests and delivered a land acknowledgement. After the national anthem was sung, speakers offered remarks, including Hector Addison, ACAO chief servant, and Ken Campbell of Joku Konbit. Thereafter, speaker after speaker spoke glowingly of the many benefits of serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.

In his remarks, Professor Andy Kwaku Kusi-Appiah, professor of Geography at Carleton University and board member of Friends of Sudan’s Internship Program, opined that since the event was targeting Black people, especially the youth, it was important to set the stage right. Prof. Kusi-Appiah also put things in perspective by challenging preconceived notions about the relationship between Black people and the Canadian Armed Forces. He laid the foundation with these words: “We, Black people, have always served Canada…before we could vote.” Speaking about the Friends of Sudan’s (FOS) Internship Program, he emphasised that young people could access help in Ottawa, saying, “you don’t have to fly to Juba (South Sudan)…The expertise is already available.” This message was particularly important for any Black youth who might consider themselves less qualified because of their skin colour, especially in these racially heightened times when some seek to dismiss Black contributions.

Next in line to speak was Lt. Col**.** Chris Stobbs, who joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2004. He impressed upon potential recruits that they don’t have to have their whole career planned out at 17 years old. According to him, he didn’t know he was going to have a career in the military before he joined in 2004. All he knew was that he had an interest in technology. Now, 22 years later, his career has evolved. He then went on to lay out the opportunities that exist in the military. Some of these opportunities allow those who enlist to get a great education, while others provide additional pay. His only caveat was that “these opportunities come with commitment”, and those who enlist “must commit to serving afterwards.” Encouraging those who might not see themselves as qualified, Lt. Col**.** Stobbs insisted that “leadership is not about being the smartest person in the room…it’s about being dependable”, and “taking responsibility for people around you.” He left the young people in attendance with three key to-dos.

First, they must be “willing to step out of their comfort zone.” This might involve being deployed overseas or doing something one is afraid of, like “jumping out of an airplane when you’re afraid of heights.” The second key, according to Lt. Col**.** Stobbs, is the importance of perception. Reputation, he emphasized, matters. Treating others with respect and following through on commitments, he explained, matter more than being the loudest person in the room**.** The third key is to “never stop learning.” He further distilled his advice into three considerations: how prepared you are to work hard, how you comport yourself and how you treat others.

The next speaker was Lt. Col. Dr Felix Fonseca, who echoed the point made earlier by Prof. Kusi-Appiah that Black Canadians have consistently served, and every generation has left its mark. Therefore, he said the question was not whether Black Canadians belong in the military because they have shown that they do. While he acknowledged that this history and the progress made deserved celebration, Dr Fonseca’s submission was that “the journey is not complete” and the “baton must be passed to a new generation.” However, the crux of the matter, as he asked, was: “Are we preparing our young people enough to serve?” He linked this preparation to the community’s standing, saying, “how the community is respected is dependent on who is representing the community in front.” And if the youth and not-so-young people in the audience needed more convincing, Dr Fonseca reminded them of what Lt. Col. Stobbs had said: the Canadian Armed Forces subsidises education. His own experience offered an example.

Lt. Col. Fonseca joined the CAF having already earned a PhD, although he then had to “learn the military” profession. He did more than learn the military; he earned another PhD after joining, with funding from the CAF. He also speaks at least 15 languages. In fact, while giving his remarks, Lt. Col. Fonseca intermittently took over the job of translation from the translator, Dominique Bien-Aime, which drew laughter from the audience. His parting words to those intending to join the CAF were to “be humble and listen actively.” As for those who worry about things like racism in the CAF, Lt. Col. Fonseca’s candid take was that “everything that happens in society” happens in the Canadian Armed Forces. His advice was to handle any case of racialised harassment as one would in the larger society.

Lt. Col. Don Philip delivered the keynote address. First, an introduction. He began his career in 1992, earned his pilot wings in 2002 and has taken part in numerous helicopter operations. With a master’s degree in Defence Studies and training in Advanced Joint Warfare, Lt. Col. Philip is director of Canada’s Joint Targeting Element, where he leads the strategic development and modernisation of the Canadian Armed Forces targeting enterprise. He began his keynote by joking that when you give a pilot 30 minutes to talk, they’ll talk about themselves for the first 15 minutes and their planes for the second 15 minutes.

His address followed the career fair’s three themes: ‘Honouring our history. Celebrating our service. Inspiring Future Generations.’ On the first theme, Lt. Col. Philip chose to honour history by telling his own story. First, he honoured those who came before: pioneers like Flying Officer Allan Bundy and Major Walter Peters, among others. When he reflects on his path, what comes first is his parents: their bravery in leaving their homeland, their unwavering trust in their son and their willingness to invest in his future. He believes his parents, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, came to Canada for better opportunities for their children. They supported his love for aviation by taking him to air shows. And when he told them he wanted to fly, they enrolled him in flying lessons, which is why he learnt to fly an aircraft before he learnt to drive a car. By age 13, he had joined the cadets.

During his CAF career, Lt. Col. Philip has gained significant recognition. For 14 years, he operated from the “decks of Canadian warships”, and his job was to hunt submarines. In that period, he travelled to six continents and visited more than 50 countries. However, he said, “Service is not simply what we accomplish. It’s how we contribute to something larger than ourselves.” Throughout his career, he was often “the first or only Black person” to achieve certain milestones or hold certain positions. But he wanted to be known more for what he could do than simply for what he represented.

As taxing as the job was, Lt. Col. Philip said his biggest challenge came when the pace slowed down, and he was posted to a desk in Ottawa. He said he cried, but then he discovered that “leadership is not tied to a cockpit”; it’s about “learning and growing.” So, he learnt about policy and how the government works; he also mastered PowerPoint and other administrative tasks as he adjusted to life behind a desk. In the end, “that opened doors to senior leadership roles and a graduate education.” Returning to the importance of family, Lt. Col. Philip emphasised: “Family serves too. They endure the deployments,” and they deserve acknowledgement. Despite his many achievements, Lt. Col. Philip said that his “greatest accomplishment” was meeting his wife. And sitting in the audience were his mother, sister and niece, who said they had driven almost all day to make the event.

Building on what earlier speakers had said, Lt. Col. Philip reminded potential enlistees that their responsibility was not just to succeed, but to make success more attainable for those who follow. He also explained his motivation for agreeing to give the keynote address, saying he used to “resist” events like the career fair because he didn’t want to be a symbol. But he had a rethink because he believes “representation matters” and that “you cannot become what you can’t see. That’s why events like these matter. That’s why visibility matters…”

His last words offered a series of simple lessons: “Embrace the challenges. Learn from defeat.” He also urged the audience never to forget where they came from**.** When adversity comes, he said to remember that true success depends on the resolve to stand up again after a fall. So, “say yes to opportunities, volunteer… and share your experiences…you do not need to be perfect. You simply need to be present…the next generation is watching you.” Actually, Lt. Col. Philip’s last words were about how cool being a pilot is.

The career fair did a great job of presenting the CAF’s benefits: subsidised education, health benefits **and **opportunities for people from a range of disciplines to join. The event ended with a question-and-answer session, and all the speakers took turns answering questions. Justin (Hüstin) Laku Sr. gave the vote of thanks and said he had experienced life as a refugee in three countries: Uganda, Egypt and Canada. As far as he was concerned, that in itself was a superpower of sorts.

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