A Liberal sustainable jobs bill is being criticized for invoking “identity politics” by emphasizing jobs for members of “equity-seeking groups.”
Tabled by Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, Bill C-50 would support the federal government’s efforts to increase job growth in the green energy sector
However, the bill appears to prioritize certain groups over others.
“A sustainable jobs approach should be inclusive and address barriers to employment with an emphasis on encouraging the creation of employment opportunities for groups underrepresented in the labour market, including women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, Black and other racialized individuals, 2SLGBTQI+ and other equity-seeking groups,” the bill says.
The bill would also strike an advisory council, whose membership would be subject to diversity requirements as well as regional representation.
Among the proposed bill’s criteria for advisory council members are, “The Indigenous knowledge of Indigenous peoples, climate change and climate policy at the regional, national and international levels.”
In shifting towards a “a net-zero economy,” Bill C-50 acknowledges “issues related to industrial change and technological transformation,” which it states it will monitor through analysis and economic and labour force forecasting.
National Post columnist Jamie Sarkonak noted that identity politics “is baked into (the bill’s) core,” speculating it will benefit “identity blocs that regularly form the focus of federal policy,” rather than all Canadians.
Identity-based preference has become conventional in Liberal job plans, citing the Canada Summer Jobs Program (CSJ) that’s backed by $400 million in government money. Although the program claims to help youth facing barriers to find employment, there are caveats.
“In 2023, CJS will address the following five national priorities: youth with disabilities, Black and other racialized youth, Indigenous youth, small business and not-for-profit organizations that self-report as having leadership from groups that are underrepresented in the labour market,” the CJS’s online guide read.
It added that small businesses and not-for-profit organizations in environmental sectors would receive preferential treatment, too.
The CJS falls under the domain of Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, who also oversees the Apprenticeship Service, a trades-based wage subsidy that also favours “diverse” candidates with more favourable grants. White apprentices, for example, only qualify for $5,000, while that figure doubles for virtually all other demographical groups.
Additionally, the feds announced $25 million last week for an entrepreneurship program catering exclusively to the LGBT community, and while the program doesn’t stipulate how, qualified applicants will be required to prove their sexual orientation or gender identity.
According to the National Post, which cites a representative from the CGLCC, an LGBT-oriented Canadian chamber of commerce that will run the LGBT entrepreneurship program, the eligibility verification process will include “a list of qualifiers and proof points of sexuality and/or gender identity such as personal references.”
