WHITE MEN NEED NOT APPLY: Federal aviation investigator job posting criticized as discriminatory

CALGARY — A federal government agency is hiring senior aviation accident investigators, but states applicants are limited to “employment equity groups” — so white men need not apply.A recent job posting from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) shows the agency is seeking potential candidates for its Senior Investigator-Operations (Air) position who have extensive real-world flying experience of at least 2,500 flight hours on a variety of single- and multi-engine aircraft, various language requirements, as well as working knowledge of multiple sets of regulations such as the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act and Regulations, among others..At the same time, the TSB has restricted applicants to those who identify as Indigenous peoples, women, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities for a role that already draws from a limited pool of candidates.“We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process,” the job listing reads.The position offers a salary range of $113,880 to $133,570, and unlike many public service jobs, senior investigator roles must be filled by seasoned pilots, which would limit the candidate pool further, with applicants having to be airline captains, corporate pilots, experienced helicopter pilots, etc.Canada’s aviation sector has faced ongoing pilot shortages in recent years, with the Government of Canada’s Job Bank website showing that the “occupation is expected to face a strong risk of labour shortage over the period of 2024–2033 at the national level,” with 38% of air pilots being over 50 years of age.The application goes on to state that applicants “are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language(s) of their choice.”Reacting to the job posting, many critics said that by limiting the application to employment equity groups, Ottawa is further shrinking an already limited pool of highly qualified aviation candidates and is guilty of discrimination..“When you eliminate more than 95% of the people who are qualified for a job, will you get the best candidate? And yes, that is what this job posting does since 90% of pilots are men and at least half are white men,” Josh Dehaas, counsel at the Canadian Constitution Foundation, said.“What are we doing here, Canada?”.Bruce McAllister, executive director of Danielle Smith’s office, said the posting was “DEI insanity on full display.”“They call this inclusion. It’s the opposite. You don’t make things fairer by openly discriminating against qualified people based on skin colour or what’s between their legs,” McAllister said on X.“You just lower standards, breed resentment, and make people wonder if the hire was the best or just the best checkbox. The best person for the job should win — every single time.”.“DEI in transportation safety,” the Western Standard’s own Cory Morgan stated.“What could possibly go wrong?”

WHITE MEN NEED NOT APPLY: Federal aviation investigator job posting criticized as discriminatory

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