Ottawa orders affirmative-action overhaul

[Sol Invictus]

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/00491/Stockwell_Day_pu_491226gm-a.jpg

Jul. 22, 2010 (The Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-orders-affirmative-action-overhaul/article1648642/)) - 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 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,” Mr. 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.

Mr. 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.”

[Grumpy Cat]

About time. There are actually job postings on their website you are blocked from applying for if you're white.

Should be the best person for the job, regardless of race.

[anonymaus]

About time. There are actually job postings on their website you are blocked from applying for if you're white.

Should be the best person for the job, regardless of race.

I heard Charles Adler's show (some other guy was filling in) discuss this with the woman who made that application. Not shocking for folks like us, but very much startling for your average Joe I'd say.

[Aemma]

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/00491/Stockwell_Day_pu_491226gm-a.jpg

Jul. 22, 2010 (The Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-orders-affirmative-action-overhaul/article1648642/)) - 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 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,” Mr. 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.

Mr. 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.”

Clearly this person is absolutely out-to-lunch!

All I have to say is "It's about Gods-damned time!"

[Psychonaut]

About time. There are actually job postings on their website you are blocked from applying for if you're white.

Should be the best person for the job, regardless of race.

Ayup. I was recently turned down for several positions with the Department of the Interior. I was amazed that the email informing me of this said outright that the reason for this was that I wasn't an Injun. :shrug:

[nisse]

Today on Power and Politics (on CBC) they said that the government found that there was nothing wrong with current practices and doesn't intend to make any changes :shrug:. They were criticised for even bringing it up - not because they were suggesting that there was anti-white discrimination, but because apparently no one cares.

[Grumpy Cat]

Well I do benefit from affirmative action in a way, because I am a woman and a computer programmer. There are so few women in the IT industry, yet IT companies are still subject to the same quotas as other companies, that a resume from a woman is almost a guaranteed interview, and when the layoff axe comes around, they have to seriously have no work for you or you must have fucked up big time.

IT companies don't have to worry about race, though, because there are so few whites in IT (I attribute this to the "computer nerd" stereotype that exists in many cultures that fall under the spectrum of "white"). Actually, one company I worked for was actually trying to get more white people at one point because the office was a sea of chocolate and I was the only vanilla swirl in there.

[Tony]

IT companies don't have to worry about race, though, because there are so few whites in IT (I attribute this to the "computer nerd" stereotype that exists in many cultures that fall under the spectrum of "white"). Actually, one company I worked for was actually trying to get more white people at one point because the office was a sea of chocolate and I was the only vanilla swirl in there.
Could you explain these lines?
Isn't Canada about 83% white?
How is it that most IT jobs are taken by the blacks/visible minorities?
are there so many blacks?or you were talkin about your city in particular?
then what kind of job white Canadian guys use to do?

[Grumpy Cat]

Could you explain these lines?
Isn't Canada about 83% white?
How is it that most IT jobs are taken by the blacks/visible minorities?
are there so many blacks?or you were talkin about your city in particular?
then what kind of job white Canadian guys use to do?

Most IT jobs are done by South and East Asians.

I was one of the only white people in my IT course at school, too, it's just not popular among whites. Among white people, there is a stigma to working in IT that you're a socially inept computer nerd who never gets laid.

IT is a new industry, the only parts of IT I think you would find white people would be in the fields that are older, like mainframe and programming in languages like COBOL, etc. And you'll find white network admins, DBAs, etc.

But in working with newer technologies, you will find very few whites.

White Canadians (and non-white Canadians who have roots here for a long time like Natives and blacks) usually take jobs in industries that are well established in Canada, immigrants (and this would include white ones, I guess, lots of Dutch, Russians, and Afrikaners in IT in my city) usually go into newer industries working with newer technologies.