Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae praised the controversial practice of affirmative action after it was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last week, the U.S. top court struck down the affirmative action admissions practices used by colleges and universities in a 6-3 vote. The majority said the race-based practices violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Rae took to Twitter to express his disappointment and defend the controversial practice.
“Proud that Canada’s Charter of Rights specifically permits affirmative action,” wrote Rae on Twitter while sharing a post from former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama.
Section 15 (1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.”
However, subsection 2 exempts affirmative action programs from the latter.
“Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.”
U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion that “the entire point of the Equal Protection Clause is that treating someone differently because of their skin color is not like treating them differently because they are from a city or from a suburb, or because they play the violin poorly or well.”
The Chief Justice said universities “have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
Asian students have long said that affirmative action discriminated against them.
21 year-old Canadian student Calvin Yang, who joined the group Students for Fair Admissions, which sued Harvard and the University of North Carolina over their admissions practices, told The New York Post, “The fact that our skin color is a disadvantage in the application process is just an open secret in the Asian American community.”
“I had a 3.9 GPA, a 1550 SAT score, two varsity sports, my own political policy startup and a spot on Canada’s 30 Under 30 list when I applied to Harvard. It was my dream school. And, when I was rejected, I couldn’t help but wonder whether my skin color was the reason why.” said Yang.
Rae’s pro-affirmative action statement was criticized by Canadians on Twitter.
One Twitter user wrote, “you approve of discrimination, then? Of Asians being referred to disdainfully as ‘white-adjacent’ and being kept out of universities because they’re over-achievers? Of assuming that Indigenous and Black students are incapable of making it on merit?”
Another user noted, “I can’t think of any situation that can’t be addressed by selecting eligible people by economic, geographic, age, health, or other non racial criteria. I don’t think fighting racism with more racism will work for Canadians.”
True North reached out to Rae’s office for comment but they did not respond in time for communication.
Rae is a former interim leader of the federal Liberals and a former NDP premier of Ontario.
