Employment Equity in Canada : The Legacy of the Abella Report

In the mid-1980s, the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment and the federal Employment Equity Act made Canada a policy leader in addressing systemic discrimination in the workplace. More than twenty-five years later, Employment Equity in Canada assembles a distinguished group of experts to examine the state of employment equity in Canada today. Examining the evidence of nearly thirty years, the contributors - both scholars and practitioners of employment policy - evaluate the history and influence of the Abella Report, the impact of Canada's employment equity legislation on equality in the workplace, and the future of substantive equality in an environment where the Canadian government is increasingly hostile to intervention in the workplace. They compare Canada's legal and policy choices to those of the United States and to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and examine ways in which the concept of employment equity might be expanded to embrace other vulnerable communities. Their observations will be essential reading for those seeking to understand the past, present, and future of Canadian employment and equity policy. Contents 5 Foreword 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction. Perspectives on Employment Equity in Canada 11 Chapter 1. The Making of the Abella Report: Reflections on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Report of the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment 23 Chapter 2. Employment Equity in Canada: What Do the Data Show about Its Effectiveness? 39 Chapter 3. Real Change? Reflections on Employment Equity’s Last Thirty Years 61 Chapter 4. Women, Intersectionality, and Employment Equity 81 Chapter 5. Employment Equity and Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples 109 Chapter 6. Employment Equity and Disability: Moving Forward to Achieve Employment Integration and Fulfil Promises of Inclusion and Participation 143 Chapter 7. The Equity Landscape for Sexual Minorities in Canada 166 Chapter 8. Remedying the Experiences of Vulnerable Workers: Links with Employment Equity 186 Chapter 9. Employment Equity in the Federal Public Service: A Union Perspective 205 Chapter 10. Securing Employment Equity by Enforcing Human Rights Laws 227 Chapter 11. The Employment Equity Mandate of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Some Preliminary Observations for Canada 252 Chapter 12. New Narratives, Same Old Problems: The Risk of Diversity-Centred Workplace Decision-Making in a “Post-Racial” America 269 Chapter 13. Employment Equity: The Next Thirty Years 294 Conclusion. Looking Forward: The Unfinished Business of Employment Equity 316 Contributors 335 Index 341

In the mid-1980s, the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment and the federal Employment Equity Act made Canada a policy leader in addressing systemic discrimination in the workplace. More than twenty-five years later, Employment Equity in Canada assembles a distinguished group of experts to examine the state of employment equity in Canada today.

Examining the evidence of nearly thirty years, the contributors – both scholars and practitioners of employment policy – evaluate the history and influence of the Abella Report, the impact of Canada’s employment equity legislation on equality in the workplace, and the future of substantive equality in an environment where the Canadian government is increasingly hostile to intervention in the workplace. They compare Canada’s legal and policy choices to those of the United States and to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and examine ways in which the concept of employment equity might be expanded to embrace other vulnerable communities. Their observations will be essential reading for those seeking to understand the past, present, and future of Canadian employment and equity policy.

In the mid-1980s, the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment and the federal Employment Equity Act made Canada a policy leader in addressing systemic discrimination in the workplace. More than twenty-five years later, Employment Equity in Canada assembles a distinguished group of experts to examine the state of employment equity in Canada today.Examining the evidence of nearly thirty years, the contributors {u2013} both scholars and practitioners of employment policy {u2013} evaluate the history and influence of the Abella Report, the impact of Canada{u2019}s employment equity legislation on equality in the workplace, and the future of substantive equality in an environment where the Canadian government is increasingly hostile to intervention in the workplace. They compare Canada{u2019}s legal and policy choices to those of the United States and to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and examine ways in which the concept of employment equity might be expanded to embrace other vulnerable communities. Their observations will be essential reading for those seeking to understand the past, present, and future of Canadian employment and equity policy In the mid-1980s, the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment and the federal Employment Equity Act made Canada a policy leader in addressing systemic discrimination in the workplace. More than twenty-five years later, __Employment Equity in Canada__ assembles a distinguished group of experts to examine the state of employment equity in Canada today.