The government of Quebec and the opposition parties all consider exaggerated the positive discrimination measures imposed on Laval University for a position at the Canada Chair in Biology.
In the eyes of the government, the University has crossed a “line where it should not be gone”. “I don’t like the message that it’s getting across,” said Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Ian Lafrenière.
To comply with the rules of the Canada Research Chairs program, Laval University has launched a call for applications reserved for women, Aboriginal peoples, people with disabilities and visible minorities, the Journal de Québec reported on Wednesday.
“We don’t want to discriminate on one side, we mustn’t discriminate on the other side either,” reacted Minister Nadine Girault, who sat on the Anti-Racism Action Group created in 2020 by the government. “Our door should be open to all good candidates.
Against “exclusion”
“It concerns me to the highest point,” said Liberal leader Dominique Anglade. “But to automatically exclude people from applications, I don’t think that’s the right approach.” “It’s going too far,” she added.
In the eyes of the Parti Québécois, this is “completely unacceptable”. “It’s very worrying and it stems from an ideology that comes to us from federal funding,” commented Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon. “It’s not the Quebec model that we want.”
Quebec Solidaire too, was critical Wednesday morning. “In our opinion, a more progressive approach is preferable,” reacted chef Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. “What we were proposing was one in four hires until the representation goal was reached in the organization in question.”
Further details will follow.
With the collaboration of Alexandre Robillard and Marie-Michèle Sioui