Racial regiments

The nationalistic roots of the Toronto Scottish Regiment and the Montreal-based Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) is apparent in their ceremonial dress, seen here in 1989. (Hans Deryk/Canadian Press)

In keeping with British military tradition, Canada's army is organized into regiments, each with its own badge, colours, motto and songs. The idea is to promote esprit de corps and a sense of history among its members.

Former soldier Serge Noel of Dalhousie, N.S., said it's time to take the concept of the regiment a step further. He is leading a drive to see a regiment and military base for First Nations soldiers in the Canadian Forces.

Noel, who is not native, said such a regiment would make aboriginal youths feel comfortable enough to enlist.

"We're talking to [aboriginal] youth that want to join the Armed Forces, but are not comfortable with the situation," Noel told CBC News in early April 2007.

"But when we make mention of a native-only [regiment], they are very excited and very upbeat about it."

He has the support of the Eel River Bar First Nation, a native band of about 500 residents in New Brunswick, and Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre.

Francophone regiments set precedent

Noel pointed out that the francophone minority in the military has the option of joining the Van Doos, the Royal 22e Régiment (Royal 22nd Regiment) in Quebec. The permanent francophone regiment was created following the First World War.

Regiments based on race in other countries

United States
The U.S. military has a history of African-American regiments from the Civil War to the Korean War. The 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, and 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments were formed in the 1860s and were collectively known as the Buffalo Soldiers. The last racially segregated U.S. military units were disbanded in the early 1950s.

United Kingdom
The British Indian Army of the early 19th century raised regiments of Nepalese soldiers known as Gurkhas. The Gurkha regiments survive today in India's army, where the soldiers are known for their use of the kukri, a large, curved knife.

Austro-Hungarian Empire
During the First World War, the empire recruited soldiers from all nationalities within the territory. 'Eighty per cent of the people weren't Austrians, or Hungarians for that matter,' says military historian Ronald Haycock. The army consisted of regiments of Czechs, Croats and Slovenes, among others.

Other French-language units in the Forces include 12e Régiment blindé, an armoured regiment, and the 5e Régiment d'artillerie légère, a regiment of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery.

Military historian Ronald Haycock — who works at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont. — said these francophone regiments were formed as a reflection of a Canadian society.

"If the society has 28 per cent French-Canadians, we know damn well what happens when you try to go to a war and you don't give expression to cultural makeup of the nation," he said.

"In the First World War, at the beginning, we didn't allow the French-Canadians [to serve in] French-Canadian units, and as a result if you wanted to serve as a French-Canadian, you had to learn English.

"It didn't allow you to identify your culture with the effort that you were making and the sacrifices you were enduring." said Haycock, adding that this could be an argument for establishing a native regiment.

First Nations have long served in military

First Nations have certainly played a role in Canada's military history.

"Canadian armed forces — right from the French regime, through the British tenure and then into the Canadian period — had always considered aboriginals as allies. To call them a regiment … would not be correct, because that's not how they organized themselves," said Haycock.

In the First World War, two of the 260 numbered battalions of the overseas Canadian Expeditionary Force — the 107th and 114th — were largely made up of status Indians. (The history of the Van Doos can be traced back to the 22nd battalion of the same force.)

There is some other historical precedent for forming military units based on race or nationality in Canada.

"In the War of 1812 on the Niagara frontier, there was a company of blacks that were raised in the engagement. In the 1830s, there was another company of blacks that was raised. These are company level, not a whole regiment as such," said Haycock.

"We did raise other units that had a national connotation — for instance, the Toronto Irish, raised in the First World War," he says.

The Irish Regiment has since moved to Sudbury, Ont. Similar regiments include the Montreal-based Black Watch of Canada and the Toronto Scottish Regiment, both of which are reserve Highland regiments.

Haycock said it made sense to organize regiments that way, because Canada was largely an immigrant society.

"It was rather difficult to determine what a Canadian was and … particularly when you have a volunteer army and you're in the middle of a crisis, the way you can get them quickly is to find some commonality between them, whether that is race, culture, whatever," he said.

Possible barrier: First Nations vary widely

Haycock pointed out that there is a unit in the modern Canadian Forces whose members share a racial background: the Canadian Rangers, a unit of part-time reservists who volunteer to provide a military presence in remote, isolated and coastal communities in Canada..

"The personnel are nearly all Inuit," he said, but added that the homogeneity stems from the demographics in the areas where Rangers operate, not a policy decision.

Haycock pointed out a problem with forming a regiment for all Indian, Métis and Inuit soldiers in the Canadian Forces: they don't represent a single people or nation.

"What native regiments do you raise? What tribes make it up?" he said.

"It may be that it's better to leave well enough alone. When you have a large aboriginal society that is tribal in its nature, it's like trying to put MacDonalds and Campbells in the same damn regiment," he said, referring to the rival Scottish clans that had a legendary feud.