VICTORIA — A testy exchange over race and hiring policies erupted in the British Columbia legislature Thursday as Conservative MLA Tara Armstrong accused universities of operating discriminatory hiring programs and challenged NDP Attorney General Niki Sharma to say whether white people can experience racism..Armstrong told the legislature that several BC universities have positions limited to certain identity groups and asked the government whether it supports what she described as discrimination against white men.“Universities in our province are carrying out racist and sexist hiring programs, and this government appears to be happy about it,” Armstrong said. She cited examples including professorships at Simon Fraser University for Black applicants, positions at Vancouver Island University restricted to indigenous or transgender applicants, and hiring practices at University of British Columbia that she said exclude “healthy white men.”Armstrong asked Sharma whether the government supports “blatant discrimination against white people, men, and others targeted by the far left,” or would amend the province’s British Columbia Human Rights Code.“I’m often at a loss for words when this member asks questions,” Sharma responded in the legislature. She urged Armstrong to “seek to understand how racism and discrimination shows up in our communities,”“Our human rights code, we’re so proud of it on this side of the house,” Sharma said, adding it protects people from discrimination in employment and other areas based on characteristics such as race, religion, or gender.Armstrong pressed the issue in a supplementary question, asking whether the government accepts that it is possible for white people to experience racism.“Does the NDP government accept that it’s even possible for white people to experience racism, yes or no?” she asked.Sharma did not give a direct yes-or-no response, instead saying the government’s focus is on ensuring people in BC can live free from discrimination and systemic barriers.“We believe in a province that gives everybody the opportunity to have a good life, free from discrimination, free from barriers that are created based on their identity,” Sharma said.Earlier in the day, the tone in the chamber had already turned testy during debate over a private member’s bill introduced by Tara Armstrong that proposes closing safe consumption sites in the province with most members agreeing they were prepared to allow the bill to pass first reading as a procedural step so it could be placed on the order paper..Instead, Armstrong called for a recorded division on her own bill, forcing MLAs to stand and vote individually in the chamber. The move drew an audible call of “selfish” in the house before the vote proceeded. The bill passed first reading with only one Green Party MLA recorded as opposed.
