Posted: Tuesday, 27 July 2010

The announcement by Treasury Board President Stockwell Day and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney that the federal government will re-examine employment equity in the federal public service comes as a surprise to the Canadian Labour Congress and its 3.2 million members.

The ministers were reacting to news reports that some job competitions (less than two per cent) in the federal public sector have been designated for qualified workers from equity groups who have traditionally been under-represented in government jobs. Their knee-jerk reaction shows the ministers would rather reinforce false stereotypes about employment equity hiring policies than improve on their government's glacial progress to equity in federal employment practices.

Despite twenty-five years since the Employment Equity Act was passed, the federal government has not made enough strides to ensure its workforce is reflective of the diversity of Canada's population - a fact reinforced in two reports by the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights that has studied employment equity in the federal public service since 2007.

In their first report in 2007, the Senate Committee found there was continued under-representation of women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and racialized people in many federal job categories. Sadly, their second report published in June shows not much has changed.

Instead of criticizing the rare occasion that federal public sector job competitions are designated for qualified candidates from under-represented groups, the ministers should get on with the work needed to be done to redress the systemic employment barriers that are preventing women, Aboriginal people, racialized people and persons with disabilities from getting access to federal jobs.

Letter to Stockwell Day.