Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY Dalhousie University caused a bit of a stir recently when word got out the Halifax-based school would only choose from job candidates who were minorities in its quest to hire a new vice-provost of student affairs. "In keeping with the principles of our employment equity policy, and with an aim to increase the representation of under-represented groups at Dalhousie, this search for a new vice-provost (of ) student affairs will be restricted to racially visible persons and Aboriginal Peoples at this time," said Carolyn Watters, provost and vice-president academic chair, in a memo. e current vice-provost, Arig al Shaibah, is leaving the university in March. e school's move was somewhat understandable, given a 2015 census report conducted by the university that found just 11 per cent of employees were racially visible and 1.9 per cent of staff members were classified as Aboriginal. e data also showed the university had made continued improvement in its workforce representation and the overall numbers of persons with disabilities and women reflected labour market availability, said a 2016 memo from the school. "However, there remain significant gaps with respect to racially visible persons and Aboriginal persons overall. In addition, gaps continue to exist for all groups (women, racially visible persons, Aboriginal persons, persons with a disability and sexual and gender minority groups) in certain occupational categories." Human rights concerns Clearly, the university wanted to create a more diverse workplace with its latest recruitment effort, but is this kind of targeted effort legal? Under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act, this type of measure is protected, according to Gail Gatchalian, partner at Pink Larkin law firm in Halifax. Other human rights statutes "prohibit discrimination on the basis of, for example, race in employment, but right after that it states that that prohibition does not apply to preclude something like this measure that has as its object the amelioration of the conditions of disadvantaged individuals," she said. "e Canadian Charter of Rights has a similar provision in section 15-2 so, in short, employment equity programs that are designed to promote substantive equality are perfectly legal." "Racialized and Indigenous people suffer from systemic discrimination in society generally but also in the university you can see the statistics cited about the under-representation of racialized and Indigenous employees at Dalhousie compared to the population, and it gets even worse as you get higher up in management levels," said Gatchalian. In Nova Scotia, the act specifically carves out an exception to discriminatory practices "to not preclude a program where activity that has as its objective the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or classes of individuals," said Paul Martin, a partner at Matthew Wilton & Associates in Toronto. "e university, to my mind, was well within (its) rights to proactively design such an application process." While this is true, it cannot be done by any means necessary, according to Sunira Chaudhri, a partner at Levitt Employment and Labour Law in Toronto. "e step taken to ameliorate a lack of diversity must be reasonable. To exclude a group based on race is the exact opposite of what that provision allows for. It encourages divisiveness rather than inclusion." Dalhousie's hiring scheme might be ripe for a human rights challenge, she said. "In my view, it is discriminatory and, hence, illegal. Employers are not entitled to discourage candidates from applying for a job based on race." While the goal of Dalhousie may be laudable — to increase minority hiring — the university is going about it the wrong way, she said. "Many employers seek to increase diversity within their ranks. at must be encouraged. It is not the right approach, however, to turn away prospective candidates based on race. Employers should assess their own hiring Searching for 'racially visible' candidates Does this kind of targeted recruitment make sense for employers? Credit: fizkes (Shutterstock) BY JOHN DUJAY

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