 Tories want review of affirmative action hiringPolitical | 207428 hits | Jul 22 4:14 pm | Posted by: Zipperfish  The Conservatives say race and ethnicity shouldn't enter into the hiring process for federal jobs and have ordered a review of affirmative action policies.
They want to look at government hiring practices, which currently give priority to qualiCommentsview comments in forum You need to be a member of CKA and be logged into the site, to comment on news. |
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They want to look at government hiring practices, which currently give priority to qualified applicants from minority groups.
New Democrat MP Pat Martin called the move a "full-frontal attack on affirmative action."
Visible minorities, including aboriginals, have long been underrepresented in the public service.
Treasury Board President Stockwell Day said no Canadian should be barred from a federal job because of race or ethnicity.
"While we support diversity in the public service, we want to ensure that no Canadian is barred from opportunities in the public service based on race or ethnicity," Day said in a statement.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who was also involved in the decision, said hiring should be based on merit.
"I strongly agree with the objective of creating a public service that reflects the diversity of Canada, and with fair measures designed to reach that goal," he said in a statement.
"But we must ensure that all Canadians have an equal opportunity to work for their government based on merit, regardless of race or ethnicity."
The government's latest figures show more women, aboriginals and visible minorities worked in the public service last year than the year before. The number of people with disabilities stayed the same.
As of March 2009, women made up 54.7 per cent of the federal workforce, aboriginals made up 4.5 per cent, people with disabilities made up 5.9 per cent and visible minorities made up 9.8 per cent.
The federal government relies on data from Statistics Canada to set hiring targets.
The announcement came a day after the country's chief statistician, Munir Sheikh, resigned over the government's decision to axe the mandatory long census form.
Martin said the government is off-base on the hiring issue.
"It is paranoia on their part, though, because we are nowhere near achieving equity in the face of the public-service workforce," he said.
"I don't think they can make a case that white, middle-class people are being denied access to public service jobs, or that there's any preference shown."
No matter how you slice it.
White people are humans too.
Even in Canada.
EVERY application form you fill out for a federal job has a box to check, whether you are a visible minority or Native. And NOW they notice???
We live in an imperfect world, run by imperfect people that impacts an equally imperfect society. There's bound to be a screw up once and a while.
-J.
EVERY application form you fill out for a federal job has a box to check, whether you are a visible minority or Native. And NOW they notice???
We live in an imperfect world, run by imperfect people that impacts an equally imperfect society. There's bound to be a screw up once and a while.
-J.
It's been that way for as long as I check job postings in Canada, and that is over 7 years.
I'm not talking about an imperfection or a screw up, this has "always" been that way.
Just like in a lot of ads is asked people who are not EI eligible to not apply.
EVERY application form you fill out for a federal job has a box to check, whether you are a visible minority or Native. And NOW they notice???
We live in an imperfect world, run by imperfect people that impacts an equally imperfect society. There's bound to be a screw up once and a while.
-J.
It's been that way for as long as I check job postings in Canada, and that is over 7 years.
I'm not talking about an imperfection or a screw up, this has "always" been that way.
Just like in a lot of ads is asked people who are not EI eligible to not apply.
Quebec government has a website called "emploiquebec.net" where employers can post jobs offers. When it's a government or communitarian job, it's clearly stated in the description that they favor visible minorities.
I'm just thinking but say I'm looking for a job in an area that have mostly immigrants (we have a lot of them in Montreal), can I say I'm a visible minority ? I remember my first apartment in quartier Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal when I was at the University. I was often the only white person in the bus.
The problem here is going to be the entrenchment of affirmative action in the Charter of Rights. The ruling government simply hasn't the authority to dismiss affirmative action. That decision is ultra vires their power. This sounds like an attempt to find a controversy that the public might rally behind, given the shitty press the PMO has taken lately. But it would take a lot more than a minority Federal government initiative to dismantle a section of the Constitution.
The charter allows for affirmative action it doesn't state you MUST have it
The charter allows for affirmative action it doesn't state you MUST have it
Yeah, but think through the logic. The first person to not be hired because an affirmative action program was cancelled is going to go to the Supreme Court and prove that the program-cancellation disadvantaged him/her. What's going to happen? The Court is pretty much handcuffed, aren't they?
What this Martin guy doesn't get is the to acheive the true equity he wants, were employees match the demographics of the country, the govt will have to scrap the bottom of the barrel of these supposedly discriminated against groups. And because so many federal jobs require being bilingual, that shrinks the pool of prospective candidates even further.