Historian claims human rights violation over job’s ‘racist criteria’
Quebec writer targets hiring restrictions
A historian at Montreal’s Dawson College has filed a human rights complaint over a prestigious job posting that’s open only to women, Indigenous people, those with disabilities and racialized groups.
Frédéric Bastien, who specializes in Canadian history, said he saw a job posting for his specialty at Université Laval in Quebec City. But the diversity rules disqualified him right off the top.
“I was not able to apply to this job because basically it was specifically written that white males were prohibited from applying,” Bastien said in an interview.
Bastien said that if the posting said people of colour couldn’t apply, it would be totally unacceptable.
“And rightly so. Because it’s a racist criteria. And now racism against white people is actually accepted now,” Bastien said. “If anti-black racism is bad, then anti-white racism is no better, obviously.”
The former Parti Québécois candidate said he filed a complaint with the Canada Research Chair program, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Quebec’s human rights commission. The controversy was first reported by Le Devoir, a Quebec newspaper.
It’s the latest salvo in a debate over the diversity requirements of the research chair program, which are top-tier university positions funded by the federal government. A number of universities have job postings with similar restrictions.
In the job posting, Laval says it has a diversity, equity and inclusion plan that aims to increase representation of women, Indigenous people, those with disabilities and minority groups in Canada Research Chair positions.
“Only candidates with the required skills AND who have self-identified as a member of at least one of these four under-represented groups ... will be selected at the end of this competition,” the posting says.
It also notes that it cannot consider other applicants until it has reached its representation targets.
Bastien, who blogs for the tabloid Journal de Montréal, also noted he has concerns about a self-identification questionnaire that asks prospective applicants about their racial identity, sexual orientation and whether they live with disabilities.
“If you’re not submitting the questionnaire with your resume, they won’t consider your candidacy,” Bastien charged. “I’m working now with lawyers, to actually file another complaint on the issue of violation of privacy.”
Dalia Alachi, the spokesperson for Quebec’s Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, said all investigations are confidential, and that documents are not made public until the matter is “deemed admissible” and filed in court.
“We therefore cannot comment on this matter,” Alachi wrote in an email.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission was unable to provide comment, said Véronique Robitaille, the communications manager.
“Unfortunately, the law prevents us from acknowledging whether a complaint has or has not been received in our system,” Robitaille responded in an email.
The hiring restrictions aim to increase diversity among the 2,285 Canada Research Chair positions, and the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, which administers the program, has said that very few chair positions are advertised with such restrictive criteria.
While there are overall criteria, each institution sets its own targets, based on such factors as local population.
“How do you know the correct number of white males or white females ... or people with the colour of skin that you want?” said Bastien. “How many elementary school professors should be males? Who knows this information?”
The most recent statistics available show that the program is exceeding its diversity targets, at least on overall metrics: By December 2019, 31 per cent of chairs were to go to women; as of September 2022, 44.3 per cent were held by that group. Fifteen per cent were to go to racialized individuals, and 24.9 per cent of chairs were held by members of that group.
By December 2029, women and gender minorities must make up 50.9 per cent of all Canada Research Chairs. Twenty-two per cent must be visible minorities; 7.5 per cent must be people with disabilities and 4.9 per cent must be Indigenous. These statistics correspond roughly to population statistics.
In recent months, a number of university job postings have had restrictive hiring criteria. Earlier this year, the University of Waterloo was hiring for three jobs, two of which excluded all cisgender men — regardless of ethnicity — and another was hiring exclusively Indigenous candidates.
It has led some politicians to conclude that there is discrimination against white men. In March, several members of Quebec’s National Assembly spoke out against a job posting in Laval’s biology department that was open only to women, Indigenous people, those with disabilities or visible minorities.
“Encouraging the hiring or awarding of research funds for under-represented groups with equal qualifications, yes,” deputy premier Geneviève Guilbault wrote on Facebook. “But explicitly excluding competent people because they’re not part of a visible minority or they’re men is overblown for the Quebec government.”
It’s not clear if Laval managed to fill the history department position Bastien wanted.
Université Laval did not respond to the National Post’s request for comment.