Employment Equity Policy: Immigration

Visible Minorities Dept: The move came in response to the story of a Caucasian woman who tried to apply for an administrative assistant’s job in the federal ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, only to find the competition was restricted to aboriginals and members of a visible minority. Such a practice is permitted under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is intended to help government meet diversity hiring targets, according to Globe And Mail. “We can continue to achieve greater diversity in the public sector without prohibiting people from applying for jobs on the grounds of their race or ethnicity,” Mr. Kenney said. “It’s a very simple principle and I think it’s something the vast majority of Canadians would appreciate.” Stockwell Day, president of the Treasury Board, ordered a review Thursday into a government job-application process that restricts some jobs to one or more of the four groups targeted by Canada’s employment-equity policy: aboriginal people, visible minorities, women and people with disabilities. Jason Kenney, the minister of Citizenship and Immigration, said he was shocked by the woman’s story and consulted with Mr. Day, who has oversight of the public service. Hiring should be decided on merit, not ethnicity, Mr. Kenney said. As reported in the news.
@t citizenship and immigration, charter of rights and freedoms