It is outrageous that the University of Calgary has implemented a hiring policy based not on merit, but on racial discrimination. If its board does not rescind this policy, the Government of Alberta must remove the board. It’s that simple..For those who missed Ted Morton’s report, published by the Western Standard on the 6th of December, here’s the gist..Under its so-called Inclusive Excellence Cluster Hiring Initiative, the University of Calgary plans to hire 45 new professors over the next three years. Whatever else they bring to the job, they must all be members of what the university calls “equity-deserving groups.”.That’s code for certain opportunities being open only to certain people. There may be better job applicants out there, but if they’re not the right sex or skin colour, they’re not hired..If it was wrong decades ago, and it was, it’s wrong now..But, at the university’s Haskayne Business School, they’re offering a tenured professorship to teach things like accounting, business technology management finance, and so on. There’s nothing particularly sex-specific about that, but the job posting says it open only to qualified women..Also at Haskayne, they’re offering a professorship to a ‘qualified black scholar.’ This isn’t just ‘white men need not apply.’ Asians, indigenous or Hispanic immigrants need not apply, either..Another current posting is indigenous only..We know why they’re doing it. There’s a proposition used by left-wing radicals to divide and conquer, that suggests the ethnic make up of any profession should reflect the country’s ethnic make up..This is rubbish, of course. There are all sorts of reasons why people will choose one profession and avoid another. If you come from countries where the police are oppressive, you may not see it as an honour to serve and protect. Also, there’s nothing stopping women being truck drivers and some are. But at the truck stop you won’t see a 50/50 split along the gender divide. Most women would rather do something else. And so on.. Thomas SowellChicago School economist, Thomas Sowell. .Discrimination by race is wrong at so many levels. But the real problem here is that when you hire by any other measure than merit, you risk not getting the best person for the job..Perhaps that doesn’t matter as much when staffing an economics faculty. Lord knows, white people can’t brag: The fools who came up with critical theory came from Frankfurt. I’ll take Thomas Sowell any time..But this is woke-ism and if it’s allowed to reach its logical conclusion, it means lower standards generally..That’s not just hard to live with..It can literally kill you..Think about it..If you ever need serious surgery, you want the best surgeon you can get, man or woman, and which continent their ancestors came from won't matter to you. Then, if you have to fly somewhere to get this surgery, you want to travel in a plane designed by perfectionists and flown by a fussy pilot who goes through the checklist for every flight, even though he’s done check out 5,000 times before, on that very type..So think about that when somebody tells you that to be objective, perfectionist or even punctual, is to be racist.. Lt.Gen (Retd) Michel MaisonneuveLt.Gen (Retd) Michel Maisonneuve .A retired Canadian general recently complained about failures of courage and leadership in Canada, as reported by Western Standard columnist Linda Slobodian. After 35 years in uniform, the man knows what it is to serve first and put himself second. Those are the values that make a great country..As for a university that doesn’t value objectivity, perfectionism and where the lectures may or may not start on time, who would want to go there?.And who would want the job of teaching, if you could never be sure that you were the best applicant, as opposed to the best ‘equity deserving’ applicant? And what would other people assume about you?.Last thing. In case you’re wondering what we do here at the Western Standard, we hire strictly on merit..This is from our policy and procedures manual..“We are a Merit Based Organization: The Western Standard will provide fair treatment and advancement in the workplace based purely on merit and merit alone. No “affirmative action” programs exist and shall never exist under the current management of the company.”.With all due humility, we offer it to the University of Calgary..Meanwhile, can somebody in the Alberta government put a stop to racial discrimination in hiring at their own university?
