Archive for the ‘Equality’ Category
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Canada’s access axis [freedom of information]
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Apr. 20, 2010
One of the central problems with our access laws is that many important exemptions are discretionary. This means that the government “may” disclose the information that falls under such an exemption, but does not have to. In theory, this permits more disclosure than mandatory exemptions, but the problem lies with who exercises the discretion to disclose. The answer? The very government that might be embarrassed by disclosure.
Tags: featured, participation, rights
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Complaints overwhelm human rights watchdog
Monday, April 19th, 2010
Apr 17 2010
It is too soon to determine whether discrimination is on the rise or if this deluge is the effect of public awareness campaigns for the new system. But the Star’s examination of at least 50 public cases and dozens of normally private mediated ones gives a stark picture of rampant racism and discrimination. Tribunal decisions show that women, minorities and the disabled are most vulnerable to discrimination by employers, landlords and businesses. In some cases both the victim and the defendant belong to racial minorities but are from different backgrounds.
Tags: rights
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
The best person for the job [employment equity]
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
April 15, 2010
If a general mentality of prejudice in favour of men — i.e. a systemic discrimination — ever existed, it is long gone now. That means that continuing an employment equity policy risks placing skin colour or chromosomes or impairment above talent in civil service hires, which also means that social engineering will be given a higher priority than efficiency and competence.
Tags: disabilities, multiculturalism, participation, rights
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Time to reconsider preferential hiring practices for women in public service: watchdog
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
April 13, 2010.
Women now hold the majority of jobs in the public service, filling about 55 per cent of all jobs. They also have a firm hold on senior jobs, holding about 43 per cent of all executive positions. …the biggest worry about amending the Employment Act and removing women as an equity group is the impact on visible minority women who face a difficult time getting into the public service and management.
Tags: rights, women
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Hope or hardship for native Canadians?
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Apr 14 2010
The income gap study shows that aboriginal people with university degrees are doing as well as their non-aboriginal counterparts, in the case of women even better. But they constitute a minority of the population. The Environics survey shows post-secondary education is the highest priority for urban aboriginal people, but many can’t afford to go to university or have to quit for financial reasons… Both studies identify discrimination as a barrier to equality.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living
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The Charter’s challenges
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
Apr 07 2010
…the Charter is at a crossroads. While there may be much to celebrate, the process of using it to establish rights is time-consuming and expensive, almost entirely dependent on government subsidies and the benevolence of lawyers to bankroll cases, sometimes costing millions of dollars. Restrictions on legal aid and a decision last fall by the Conservative government to kill the Court Challenges Program, which helped fund individuals and citizen groups fighting for constitutional protections, have made the Charter more inaccessible than ever.
Tags: rights
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Aboriginal income gap calculated for first time
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Thu, April 8, 2010
In ‘The Income Gap Between Aboriginal Peoples and the Rest of Canada’—the first ever report of its kind—Daniel Wilson and David Macdonald find that for every dollar non-Aboriginals earned in 2006, Aboriginal peoples earned only 70 cents.
Tags: Indigenous
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Aboriginal women do better by degrees
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
April 8, 2010
Despite grim statistics that show a stubborn earnings gap of 30 per cent between aboriginal people and other Canadians, aboriginal women who go to university are actually enjoying a kind of advantage – and one not shared by aboriginal men… aboriginal women are narrowing the wage gap with aboriginal men… Part of the reason is aboriginal women are attending university in greater numbers.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living, women
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Rights not a cure for Indian Act
Monday, April 5th, 2010
April 02, 2010
Education is the real key to enabling future generations to live in and contribute to the modern world. Unfortunately, too much aboriginal “education” is built around the notion of “preserving the culture.”… While more secure individual property rights may be necessary, they are very far from sufficient to solve the terrible problems — including isolation, dependency, substance abuse, mismanagement and joblessness — inflicted upon natives by well-meaning paternalism, self-serving humbug, and the depredations of their own “leaders.”
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living
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Order out of chaos – why refugee reform makes sense
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
Mar. 31, 2010
What’s needed is a streamlined system that treats likely false claimants differently from others, and cuts down decision times for all… starting with an initial interview that is supposed to help the applicant organize his or her claim. Public servants, rather than the IRB, will then hear the case within 60 days, instead of the current system under which the file goes to the IRB for a full hearing.
Tags: immigration
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