Employment Equity Policy In Canada And The Politics Of Regional Context

This report presents findings from research comparing employment equity policies in Canada's 10 provinces and the federal government. The study is based on policy analysis and on a series of qualitative interviews with equity policy stakeholders. The report contains: a comparative analysis of employment equity policy administration in provincial governments; an overview of the history and context of employment equity policy in Canada; a specific consideration of the rise and fall of employment equity policy in Ontario as a case study; consideration of the employment equity policy debate in Canada; an assessment of research findings from the perspective of senior governmental administrators and public servants responsible for employment equity policy implementation; an assessment of research findings from the perspective of those involved with labour and community employment equity issues; recommendations.

In the mid-1980s, the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment and the federal Employment Equity Act made Canada a policy leader in addressing systemic discrimination in the workplace. More than twenty-five years later, Employment Equity in Canada assembles a distinguished group of experts to examine the state of employment equity in Canada today. Examining the evidence of nearly thirty years, the contributors – both scholars and practitioners of employment policy – evaluate the history and influence of the Abella Report, the impact of Canada’s employment equity legislation on equality in the workplace, and the future of substantive equality in an environment where the Canadian government is increasingly hostile to intervention in the workplace. They compare Canada’s legal and policy choices to those of the United States and to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and examine ways in which the concept of employment equity might be expanded to embrace other vulnerable communities. Their observations will be essential reading for those seeking to understand the past, present, and future of Canadian employment and equity policy.

This volume offers a critical examination of educational policy in Ontario, Canada, and critiques the success of such policies in ensuring diversity and equity of access in teacher hiring. Providing comprehensive coverage of historical marginalization in the Canadian education system, the book explains the rationale and objectives of policies enacted with the aim of ensuring "bias-free", or "colourblind" hiring. Drawing on qualitative data to illustrate how educators’ lived experiences often sit at odds with the inclusivity that such policies claim to achieve, the book presents the "Equity Hiring Toolkit" as a practical framework enabling educational administrators to recognize how unconscious biases and relative positions of power can implicate hiring decisions. This text will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of teacher education, educational policy, and multicultural education more broadly. Those interested in the school leadership and management, as well as race and ethnic studies will also enjoy this volume.

The author is identified as a "leader of the 1960s student left," who holds a Phd from the London School of Economics, has taught at universities in Canada and the UK, and is currently a social policy consultant living in Canada. Here he argues that social class, not group membership determines life chances, and that politicians have catered to misconceived notions about discrimination. The result has been preferential treatment for people don't really need help, at the expense of those who are poor and really do need government assistance. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Certain adjustments to employment systems, practices, and policies are necessary to ensure equal access to employment opportunities for all individuals. The purpose of employment equity is to open the access and competition to all who would have been eligible but for the existence of discrimination, whether conscious or unconscious. This paper explains employment equity, its history in Canada, and its potential implications.