Affirmative What?

Affirmative action, that's what. A curse to mainstream society and an envisioned blessing to minorities. Although being female doesn't count, since that gender is in no minority position. Still, this is action taken by government to make amends over past discrimination. And to more accurately reflect, we are informed, the makeup of society. Women, at one time, less numerous in well-paid employment, and minority groups who found it difficult to obtain good jobs, have been advantaged by affirmative action.

Affirmative as in taking the initiative to promote the 'rights' of minority groups, the disabled, ethnics, aboriginals, and females to high-profile, good-paying jobs in the public service. To set a standard, to encourage employers in the private sector to do likewise. And that might have been seen as a very good plan at its inception which is some decades ago, but perhaps the time has come, now that all those previously job-disadvantaged groups have joined the job-advantaged, to revert to recognizing equality in qualifications.

So that no longer should qualified job-seekers be disqualified on the basis of their reflection as non-ethnic, non-visible minority, gender status. According to Statistics Canada, while 16.2% of Canadians are visible minorities, they hold 18.8% of public service positions. Similarly, aboriginals represent 3.8% of the population, and hold 4.2% of public service jobs. While 51% of the population is female, and they represent 57.2% of such jobs.

Mission accomplished. There is no longer any reasonable requirement to meet targets by structuring available job placements toward a particular group. People who qualify on the basis of their being able to fullfil the requirements of the position should no longer be turned away. And this appears to be the position the Conservative government has considered

Advising publicly their intention to review affirmative action policies with the understanding that the public service should hire strictly on merit, excluding the focus on 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", according to Cabinet Ministers Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney.

How utterly reasonable. How fearsomely appropriate. And how absolutely predictable that the Liberal opposition would be howling outrage. Clearly an attack on affirmative action. Be that as it may, it should also be clear that the way has been cleared for all those once-vulnerable groups to be recognized as having their own merit; in a fair and just society everyone should be able to present as qualified regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other yardstick.

It is past time that qualifications and merit revert to representing the deciding factor. There is no reason why ethnics, women, minorities of any kind cannot attain the same kind of qualifications to merit a position as any other applicant. And now that this is being discussed, perhaps it's time to discuss another blatant injustice where speaking French takes precedence over qualifications, experience and capability in the public service.