Loss of culture

The military and RCMP services are built on conformity and adherence to strict rules and codes of conduct. Where you live, the clothes you wear, the home you live in, and the food you eat may be decided for you. Service life may have come with various cultural losses, including:

• Community,
• Values, beliefs, traditions,
• Cultural observances or practices and access to religious or spiritual spaces,
• Being able to speak your traditional language,
• Familiar food,
• Your children not growing up around family, a cultural community, traditions, and practices.

You may be posted to a place where you and your family are the only members of your cultural community, where you can’t access places of worship such as temples, synagogues, mosques, and no one is aware of the cultural traditions, observances, or practices that are important to you. People may give you food you can’t eat, not recognize holy days, or respond negatively to practices that are important to you.