In what is being described as a major breach of operational security, Canada’s defence minister Bill Blair says he made a mistake in accidentally including a journalist with Toronto Life in a group chat discussing plans for a top-secret cultural sensitivity seminar.

“We’re investigating how this journalist was added to this group chat,” Blair explained. “Canadians should rest assured we take this very seriously, and will make changes to our procedures so plans for future seminars, workshops and other activities don’t run the risk of being leaked before getting the requisite approvals from seniors managers.

Toronto Life posted redacted screenshots of the group chat, in which senior officials discussed the colours of the presentation slides, which department would handle translation into French, and whether names given in examples were ethnically diverse enough.

“These were very sensitive discussions and we apologize to anyone who suffered trauma as a result of reading these confidential discussions,” Blair said, adding psychological support services would be made available to affected employees.