TORONTO—A review of federal affirmative action policies has sparked fresh debate on a topic that has been controversial in countries around the world that wrestle with a disproportionate number of white men in the upper ranks of the public and private sectors.
The review was announced last week after Sara Landriault of Kemptville, Ontario, was told by an online application system for Citizenship and Immigration Canada that she could not apply for an administrative assistant job because she was white.
Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board, and Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, asked for the review out of concerns that some Canadians were being denied jobs because of the colour of their skin.
“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,” said Day.
“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. But we must ensure that all Canadians have an equal opportunity to work for their government based on merit, regardless of race or ethnicity,” Kenney said.
While some Liberal MPs have tried to characterize the review as an attack on diversity in the workplace, both Day and Kenney have said they support the general policy of affirmative action but are concerned that some people are being denied consideration for some public sector jobs on the basis of race.
Day told the National Post that the opposition was going ballistic over a responsible review.
While the situation that Landriault ran into is extraordinary, with very few positions in the public sector specifically limited to certain ethnicities, it is a contentious issue even to those who support affirmative action. Some of those supporters are worried the ensuing debate could tarnish employment equity and throw the entire practice into disrepute.
Phani Radhakrishnan, a senior lecturer at the University of Toronto and expert on diversity management, said the most commonly practiced form of affirmative action in Canada does not give undue preference to any ethnicity and only comes into play when two people of equal qualification are being considered for a position and one belongs to a specified group.
“People usually think that affirmative action means that an unqualified person is being hired,” but she said that is not the case.
“There is a decision that if everyone is equally qualified, group membership is then taken into account,” she said.
Radhakrishnan compares affirmative action, or employment equity, to other factors that affect hiring decisions, such as whether a company emphasizes seniority or skills when deciding on promotions. In that case, a company may be choosing between company loyalty and education.
“People have a hard time saying this is less important or that is less important . . . so then it is the value of the company that decides,” she said. “We all make decisions based on these values and they are not absolutely right.”
But while that is the normal course affirmative action takes in Canada, there are rare situations where some groups are not considered for a position at all.
It is this kind of “hard affirmative action” that raises concerns for Donald Taylor, a social psychology professor at McGill University who has researched inter-group relations.
Taylor said in situations like Landriault’s where some people are not even considered for a job based on race, it undermines the meritocracy that Canadians value and leads both those who are hired and those who are overlooked to think less of whoever gets the job.
“Affirmative action is a dicey business. . . . It is one of those rare policies that names the groups. That is one of the things you don’t do in a meritocracy.”
He said another problem is affirmative action policies rarely name an end date or goal, which would be essential to ensure they do not undermine the equality of ability.
That said, he believes the soft form of affirmative action or employment equity that is common in Canada is necessary to correct past injustices and the preferential treatment historically given to white males.
Kenney told reporters on Friday that rather than limit jobs to some ethnicities, it would be better if the government made pro-active efforts to hire people from underrepresented groups by doing things like advertising in ethnocultural media, a practice both CSIS and the RCMP engage in.
“It is very important to maintain public support for the goal of greater diversity in our public service. And I believe that if most Canadians get the impression that they are being unfairly discriminated against and not even allowed to apply for jobs in their government that are funded by their tax dollars, this will undermine the general positive goal of greater diversity and the reasonable and fair measures that we have undertaken to promote that diversity.”
Kenney said only one percent of jobs in the federal public service are exclusionary on the basis of race and that so far there has been only one such posting at his ministry in 2010.
Even though it is a relatively small issue, he said it still needs to be addressed.
“I cannot possibly look a Canadian in the eye and tell them you are not allowed to apply for a job in your government because of your race. So we need to review that policy which is what Minister Day has asked the Treasury Board to do,” he said.
The Treasury Board is responsible for hiring members of the public service.
Kenney touted the success of employment equity efforts at his own ministry where the number of women and visible minorities is comparable to Canada’s demographic profile.
The review was announced last week after Sara Landriault of Kemptville, Ontario, was told by an online application system for Citizenship and Immigration Canada that she could not apply for an administrative assistant job because she was white.
Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board, and Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, asked for the review out of concerns that some Canadians were being denied jobs because of the colour of their skin.
“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,” said Day.
“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. But we must ensure that all Canadians have an equal opportunity to work for their government based on merit, regardless of race or ethnicity,” Kenney said.
While some Liberal MPs have tried to characterize the review as an attack on diversity in the workplace, both Day and Kenney have said they support the general policy of affirmative action but are concerned that some people are being denied consideration for some public sector jobs on the basis of race.
Day told the National Post that the opposition was going ballistic over a responsible review.
While the situation that Landriault ran into is extraordinary, with very few positions in the public sector specifically limited to certain ethnicities, it is a contentious issue even to those who support affirmative action. Some of those supporters are worried the ensuing debate could tarnish employment equity and throw the entire practice into disrepute.
Phani Radhakrishnan, a senior lecturer at the University of Toronto and expert on diversity management, said the most commonly practiced form of affirmative action in Canada does not give undue preference to any ethnicity and only comes into play when two people of equal qualification are being considered for a position and one belongs to a specified group.
“People usually think that affirmative action means that an unqualified person is being hired,” but she said that is not the case.
“There is a decision that if everyone is equally qualified, group membership is then taken into account,” she said.
Radhakrishnan compares affirmative action, or employment equity, to other factors that affect hiring decisions, such as whether a company emphasizes seniority or skills when deciding on promotions. In that case, a company may be choosing between company loyalty and education.
“People have a hard time saying this is less important or that is less important . . . so then it is the value of the company that decides,” she said. “We all make decisions based on these values and they are not absolutely right.”
But while that is the normal course affirmative action takes in Canada, there are rare situations where some groups are not considered for a position at all.
It is this kind of “hard affirmative action” that raises concerns for Donald Taylor, a social psychology professor at McGill University who has researched inter-group relations.
Taylor said in situations like Landriault’s where some people are not even considered for a job based on race, it undermines the meritocracy that Canadians value and leads both those who are hired and those who are overlooked to think less of whoever gets the job.
“Affirmative action is a dicey business. . . . It is one of those rare policies that names the groups. That is one of the things you don’t do in a meritocracy.”
He said another problem is affirmative action policies rarely name an end date or goal, which would be essential to ensure they do not undermine the equality of ability.
That said, he believes the soft form of affirmative action or employment equity that is common in Canada is necessary to correct past injustices and the preferential treatment historically given to white males.
Kenney told reporters on Friday that rather than limit jobs to some ethnicities, it would be better if the government made pro-active efforts to hire people from underrepresented groups by doing things like advertising in ethnocultural media, a practice both CSIS and the RCMP engage in.
“It is very important to maintain public support for the goal of greater diversity in our public service. And I believe that if most Canadians get the impression that they are being unfairly discriminated against and not even allowed to apply for jobs in their government that are funded by their tax dollars, this will undermine the general positive goal of greater diversity and the reasonable and fair measures that we have undertaken to promote that diversity.”
Kenney said only one percent of jobs in the federal public service are exclusionary on the basis of race and that so far there has been only one such posting at his ministry in 2010.
Even though it is a relatively small issue, he said it still needs to be addressed.
“I cannot possibly look a Canadian in the eye and tell them you are not allowed to apply for a job in your government because of your race. So we need to review that policy which is what Minister Day has asked the Treasury Board to do,” he said.
The Treasury Board is responsible for hiring members of the public service.
Kenney touted the success of employment equity efforts at his own ministry where the number of women and visible minorities is comparable to Canada’s demographic profile.
