Law Times

PAGE 10 FOCUS sepTember 13, 2010 • Law Times Employment-equity review leaves observers puzzled Move by Stockwell Day 'a bit of a bogus issue,' human rights lawyer says BY ROBERT TODD Law Times A review of employment- equity policies in the federal public service by Treasury Board President Stockwell Day has left experts scratching their heads. Day called for the review in July after learning a white woman couldn't apply for an administrative assistant job with Citizenship and Immigration Canada as it restricted hiring for the position to applicants who were aboriginal or members of a visible minority. The restriction was part of an employment- equity policy that reserves about two per cent of jobs in the feder- al public service for aboriginals, visible minorities, women, and people with disabilities. "While we support diversity in the public service, we want to ensure that no Canadian is Locals can't swim either Continued from page 9 water and the effective treat- ment of waste water." She suggested there have been recent improvements in that area across the country with the number of high-risk sys- tems declining to 49 cur- rently from 193 in 2006. The government has plans for fur- ther improvements with $2.3 billion to have been invested from 2006 to 2012, she said. The government also believes the proposed safe drinking water for First Na- tions act, introduced in Par- liament in May, will further protect health and safety and ensure continued investment in infrastructure. The legislation would allow the government to create federal regulations to provide a similar level of protection for drinking water in First Nations communities to that of other Canadian jurisdictions. The government also announced in May The UN resolution may bol- ster First Nations' push for better water infrastructure, says Barry Weintraub. People like Constance Lake First Nation Chief Arthur Moore eagerly await the proposed leg- islation and new investments. His northern Ontario commu- nity has been forced for months to have clean drinking water trucked in due to an unsafe algae buildup in a local lake. The community has been strug- gling with water issues on and off for the past 10 years, says Moore, who notes many First Nations communities in northern Ontario are in the same boat. But the buildup of toxic al- gae in Constance Lake has done more than just create problems for those looking to get a clean glass of water, take a shower or clean their clothes, according to Moore. It has also made it impossible for locals to swim. "It really is very disturbing," he says. "We the extension of its First Nations water and waste water action plan, which makes way for an additional $330 million for safe drinking water. would like to enjoy our natural life in the community — to enjoy having clean water like any other municipality across the coun- try. It's not our fault that they put us on the reserves system where there's not much op- portunity for us to grab mainly because of our location." LT barred from opportunities in the public service based on race or ethnicity," Day said in a release. The statement indicated the re- view would focus on the Public Service Employment Act and "related policies and practices." However, it remains unclear how the government is conduct- ing the review or when it will re- lease the findings. "It is too early to provide details on the review of employment-equity policies," a Treasury Board spokesman said in an e-mail. "There are no further details at this point." Raj Anand, a human rights lawyer at WeirFoulds LLP and chairman of the board of directors for the Ontario Human Rights Legal Support Centre, calls the employment-equity review "a bit of a bogus issue." Says Anand: "There's nothing in the Employ- ment Equity Act that says, 'Hire a black person over a white one or a person with a disability over one who doesn't have a disability.' Employment equity has never been accepted in this country as a matter of exclusion of one group in favour of another." He notes that the act consists of obligations for federally regu- lated employers, which make up perhaps 10 per cent of the workforce. Employers bound by it must provide statistics on the proportion of workers from des- ignated groups versus the general population. If there is a dispro- portion in this ratio, they must introduce policies to gradually eliminate any barriers that may have caused the discrepancy. "There's nothing in relation to Inside you will find: • an up-to-date alphabetical listing of more than 57,000 barristers, solicitors and Quebec notaries, corporate counsel, law firms and judges in Canada; • contact information for the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, Federal Cabinet Ministers, departments, boards, commissions and Crown corporations; • legal and government contact information related to each province for the Courts of Appeal, Supreme Courts, County and District Courts, Provincial Courts, law societies, law schools, Legal Aid, and other law-related offices of importance. More than a phone book Hardbound • Published February each year • On subscription $141 • P/C 0600140999 One-time purchase $157 • P/C 0600010999 • ISSN 0084-8573 CD-ROM • On subscription $214 • P/C 0600260999 One-time purchase $229 • P/C 0600210000 an individual competition that's required to come out of that," says Anand, who notes Canada is far from its goal of creating equality in the federal workforce. "If you just take statistics as the only cri- terion, the four designated groups are all disproportionately under- represented in terms of either raw numbers or level within the hierarchy of federally regulated employers. . . . In short, there is no under-representation of able- bodied, male, white people." Siobhan Coady, the federal Liberal treasury board critic, expressed shock that Citizen- ship and Immigration Minis- ter Jason Kenney raised the is- sue and that Day embraced it. "The act itself was put in place for a reason — that there's an under-representation in the public service — and we want to make sure that it reflects Canada," says the Newfound- land MP. "What are they trying to do here? Is it all politics? He should be supporting the diver- sity of Canada." Coady suggests the review "again shows [the Conservative government's] ideology. It again shows where they want to take the country." Patty Ducharme, national For a 30-day, no risk evaluation call 1.800.565.6967 Canada Law Book, a Thomson Reuters business. Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping and handling. CLL ad - 1/4 _ 3X.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 9/9/10 11:51:34 AM executive vice president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, says she's alarmed Day would call for a review of the 'In short, there is no under- representation of able-bodied, male, white people,' says Raj Anand. legislation and polices over a single complaint. "There's lots of postings where preference will be given to an aboriginal person or a ra- cialized person, but to be clear, for any employment-equity hir- ing, people have to have merit. They have to qualify for the job in order to be considered," says Ducharme. At the same time, PSAC would like to see several chang- es to the act. "We'd like to see some teeth in the legislation because, quite frankly, govern- ment fails to meet its employ- ment-equity obligations." Ducharme emphasizes that discrimination in the federal public service continues. Recent statistics indicate that about 10 per cent of federal public service workers are racialized Canadians, which compares to 15 per cent of Canada's workforce as a whole. "There's no question that many workers have faced barri- ers trying to get jobs in the fed- eral public service or to advance in the federal public service," she says. "I believe that in order to offer quality public services to Canadians coast to coast, we need to have representative workers." Ducharme believes greater accountability for employment- equity policies would help turn the tide. She notes that while managers in the federal public sector receive performance pay, achieving employment-equity objectives doesn't appear to be part of that structure. That should change, says Ducharme. "Sometimes you've got to knock people over the head with their wallets and their per- formance pay," she says. PSAC would like to see several other changes, too, such as man- datory targets for equity hiring, better statistics on recruitment rates, and exit interviews to help identify why minorities are leav- ing the federal public service. Meanwhile, the government hasn't contacted PSAC regard- ing the review. "We are the big- gest bargaining unit in the fed- eral public service," Ducharme points out. LT

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