White males need not apply

Internal e-mail reveals hiring ban at Public Works
Tom Blackwell - National Post with Hat tip to Neale News
November 19, 2005

A major federal department has temporarily banned the hiring of able-bodied white men in an unusual move critics say could spark a backlash against the very disadvantaged groups it is meant to help.

Managers in the Public Works department must hire only visible minorities, women, aboriginals and the disabled, except with written permission from their superiors, David Marshall, the deputy minister, ordered in an e-mail circulated yesterday.

The policy, designed to address shortfalls in the department's employment-equity goals, will last at least until the end of next March and be reviewed then, the memo said.

"As executives and managers, our role includes ensuring that the public service is representative," Mr. Marshall said in the memo. "This involves providing direction and leadership by example, and demonstrating a firm commitment to an inclusive workplace."

Pierre Teotonio, a department spokesman, said last night the order was prompted in part by a precipitous drop in the number of employees hired from the designated groups this year. The proportion of female, disabled, aboriginal and non-white new hires fell from one in eight this March to only one in 20 by September, he said. The federal benchmark just for the hiring of visible minorities is one in five.

Still, a veteran labour lawyer said yesterday he had never heard of an edict actually barring the recruitment of large numbers of people. And even a federal civil service union that strongly supports employment equity questioned the wisdom of the policy.

"I think it's creating a possible backlash against equity groups and then it's not helping these people to get into government," said Nycole Turmel, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

There is, of course, a way to speed up the aforementioned affirmative action program and achieve grest results without discriminating against able-bodied white male applicants.

All senior personnel from the minister and staff down through the ministry civil servants to the level of the mangers should be asked if they really support the preferential hiring of "disadvantaged" groups. Tally the results. Then simply fire those who answer in the affirmative and replace them with people from your "target groups."

It's called leadership by example. You see, its easy to be "progressive" about these matters when its the other white fellow that has to carry the burden of your ideas of social progress. It takes a real white man to take it on the chin for the "progressive" cause.