Stephen Taylor – a blog on Canadian politics » Discriminatory hiring in the government

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July 13, 2011

Discriminatory hiring in the government

Here’s a good job that may interest you.

A Corrections Officer making $59,513 to $74,647 per year would be a great paying job for most Canadians. You must apply by July 24th to the Correctional Service of Canada.

However, under the Who Can Apply section we see the following restrictions. Surely these must be based upon learned skill, educational qualification, or the content of one’s character? No, some particular hiring restrictions are based on the colour of one’s skin.

Persons residing or employed in Moncton, NB and within a 400 kilometer radius* of Moncton, NB, within Canadian territory, extending to, amongst others, Miscou Centre, NB, Cape Tormentine, NB Seal Cove, NB, Forest City, NB, Connors, NB, North Cape and EastPoint, PE, Yarmouth, NS, Main-à-Dieu, NS, Leslie, QC, Cap-des-Rosiers, QC, Saint-Antonin, QC who are members of one of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons** Visible minorities***

Those asterisks helpfully let us know what these terms mean,

**An Aboriginal person is a North American Indian or a member of a First Nation, Métis or Inuit. North American Indians or members of a First Nation include treaty, status or registered Indians, as well as non-status and non-registered Indians. Effective January 1, 2010, all departments and agencies under the Public Service Employment Act are required to use an Affirmation of Aboriginal Affiliation Form (AAAF)for appointment processes in which the area of selection is restricted to Aboriginal peoples only or to employment equity groups that include Aboriginal peoples. The AAAF is a condition of appointment: it must be completed and signed by the candidate before or at the same time as the Letter of Offer. For more information, consult the Public Service Commission’s Web site on AAAF.

***A person in a visible minority group is someone (other than an Aboriginal person as defined above) who is non-white in colour/race, regardless of place of birth. The visible minority group includes: Black, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian-East Indian (including Indian from India; Bangladeshi; Pakistani; East Indian from Guyana, Trinidad, East Africa; etc.), Southeast Asian (including Burmese; Cambodian; Laotian; Thai; Vietnamese; etc.) non-white West Asian, North African or Arab (including Egyptian; Libyan; Lebanese; etc.), non-white Latin American (including indigenous persons from Central and South America, etc.), person of mixed origin (with one parent in one of the visible minority groups listed above), other visible minority group.

This issue has come up before and a review was promised by Stockwell Day, then Minister of the Treasury Board.

“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 to review the government’s hiring practices, which give priority to qualified applicants from minority groups, said everyone should be considered for federal jobs.

“We are in favour of appropriate diversity in the public service and reasonable efforts to achieve it, but we don’t think any Canadians should be excluded from applying within their government,” he told CBC News. “It’s OK to encourage people from different backgrounds to apply but in our judgment it goes too far to tell people that if they are not of a particular race or ethnicity they cannot apply [for a job] that is actually funded by their tax dollars.”

A representative workplace that doesn’t discriminate is an ideal that should be held by everyone. What is the progress of this review?

This entry was authored by Stephen Taylor at 06:27 PM | Tweet this | Comments (20)

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Catherine Harrison

You absolutely must be kidding!!!
http://www.stephentaylor.ca Stephen Taylor

Unfortunately not! Can you believe the government has a discriminatory hiring practice based upon skin colour?
BrianYYC

This annoys me to no end. Who are these elitist do-gooders who decide this crap? And where in our ridiculous and pompous constitution does it say to discriminate against the majority? How does that make past injustices right? Line these civil servant elites up against the wall and tickle them to death.
Rob C

Standard procedure, the city of Calgary has a separate posting wall for aboriginals and visible minorities .
City transit is really into this.
http://twitter.com/patelkiran patelkiran

This is not the end for discrimination, if we look at close, each and every corner of govt. decision will be questionable. There are so many factors for each condition and some times it comes out in front of eyes, like here. It is an equal opportunity employer with preference to minorities.
real conservative

Quotas by anything other than in name.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PS3P2P5FCOU6FWZ3X6YBCOQNY4 Toomuchgov

Don’t be a white male with blue eyes in this KOUNTRY .. Kanada…
Anonymous

It’s been like this for at least 15 years. IMO these are the most psychically corrosive policies in Canada.
http://twitter.com/JamesWJBowden James Bowden

I recall that when Stockwell Day released that statement in the last Parliament, Pat Martin commented that because the proportion of jobs that restrict whites is so low, we should all treat it as a non-issue. That’s all well and good for Pat Martin — except, of course, we all know that if only one job restricted itself exclusively to whites, Pat Martin and the New Dumbs would be the first to criticize the racism and inequality.
http://www.stephentaylor.ca Stephen Taylor

the problem is that is this practice is acceptable, the pendulum could swing the other way and nobody wants to see that.

It’s the principle. Discrimination based upon race is wrong. Full stop.
http://www.stephentaylor.ca Stephen Taylor

the problem is that is this practice is acceptable, the pendulum could swing the other way and nobody wants to see that.

It’s the principle. Discrimination based upon race is wrong. Full stop.
Bill Baerg

Entirely unacceptable !!!
Liz J

It’s all down to government practices at all levels. We are told, well “guaranteed”, we are all equal under the law, race, color, creed not factors BUT governments take exceptions to those rights making some more equal than others. We see it in places like the Public School system in Ontario where exceptions are made for religion. One religious system is still funded from the public purse long after the reason for separating schools along religious lines is long dead.

It sounds grand to say ALL are equal but we ALL know it’s just political jargon.
Anonymous

I applied fora prison guard job back in the 80′s just after being laid off from my forestry job. The person who interviewed me said I had very good qualifications,including many years working with inmates in forestry projects.

When I wasn’t hired,I queried the fellow further,and he said,”unfortunately, there are hiring quotas in effect ,and you,as a white male, are on the bottom of the list”.

Employment equity has only gotten worse since then.
Anonymous

I applied fora prison guard job back in the 80′s just after being laid off from my forestry job. The person who interviewed me said I had very good qualifications,including many years working with inmates in forestry projects.

When I wasn’t hired,I queried the fellow further,and he said,”unfortunately, there are hiring quotas in effect ,and you,as a white male, are on the bottom of the list”.

Employment equity has only gotten worse since then.
Anonymous

Can you believe that Canada as a nation once openly discriminated AGAINST visible minorities and First Nations people, and that covert discrimination still exists in the public and private sectors, despite laws against this?

I agree, it certainly seems egregious that this ad is so up-front about the selection criteria. Yes, there’s a quota. So, hooray, you’ve found ONE ad. Certainly there’s more. But are you willing to research and state publicly what percentage of posted government positions have such restrictions? It’s not that many. What are the demographics of government employees, and how do they compare to the general working population?

I grew up during the first blush of deliberate inclusiveness… in ads, TV shows, hiring policies, incentives on college admissions… and I was uncomfortable about the principles behind much of this. But hindsight shows the end justified the means, especially in Canada – we have a much more inclusive and barrier-free society now, and our streets, malls and workplaces now mirror the multi-hued and multi-cultural ideals we deliberately stuck into our ads those 20+ years ago (yes, I was in advertising at one point). Sensible use of inclusive examples and quotas has made Canada better.

Finally, I’m fairly certain that the corrections staff still skews very white compared to the general population, so one or two quota hires isn’t going to suddenly make non-whites a privileged sector. Besides, with the CPCs law-and-order pander (in the face of declining crime, yet), the prision population will be increasingly non-white… the guards might as well be, too.
Anonymous

Don’t be an uneducated, unambitious, resentful, xenophobic white male ~~with blue eyes~~ in this KOUNTRY .. Kanada…

There, fixed that for you.

This white male (aka me) has never had it better, in this, the best country in the world.

Sorry your aspirations to be a prison guard have hit a wall. It might have less to do with your skin colour than you think. Just sayin’
Anonymous

Discrimination based upon race is wrong. Full stop.

Agree. Despite many improvements, active discrimination against non-whites is still an issue.

It’s your turn now, what’s your solution? It’s not enough to hold a principle, if you won’t put it to work. We (progressives) did, and we made things better.
Anonymous

the problem is that is this practice is acceptable, the pendulum could swing the other way and nobody wants to see that.

You know, and I know, that this would not happen (covert discrimination is still working OK for those who still practice it). Unless you think that we’re about to slide into Zimbabwe or Weimar Germany/Nazi territory. (OMG …. I’ve committed a Godwin). Do you, and should we be worried? You know the Harper agenda better than I do.
Anonymous

the problem is that is this practice is acceptable, the pendulum could swing the other way and nobody wants to see that.

You know, and I know, that this would not happen (covert discrimination is still working OK for those who still practice it). Unless you think that we’re about to slide into Zimbabwe or Weimar Germany/Nazi territory. (OMG …. I’ve committed a Godwin). Do you, and should we be worried? You know the Harper agenda better than I do.