Thank you for doing all this work to show how deeply the rot of DEI is spreading in professional associations in Canada. This should send shivers down the back of any person who wishes to live in a sane society.
All professional associations in Canada are already corrupted by their relationship with the (increasingly leviathan) state that grants them monopoly right to practice legislation. Their boards have government appointees and their staff are generally onboard with all the other institutions captured by cultural Marxism that now dominate the humanities faculties and wider culture. Their interest in maintaining their monopoly exceeds their interest in professionalism. One need only go back a couple of years to see the ease with which some of these professions canceled and ejected otherwise competent members questioning state directed political (not science-based) mandates within fully state-compliant and corrupted associations. We don't have professions offering objective standards of practice to willing buyers, we have guild socialism.
If the effect of this emphasis on DEI is to lower standards then that must be remedied. However, let us not forget the bad, old days. My dear, old, 83 year old friend who was a brain surgeon in the Maritimes for 50 years spoke of the difficulty that highly qualified others of his origin had getting hired, if there was ANYONE, who looked like the hospital hiring committee. He generalized the cause: people like to be with people who look, eat, worship, and love like themselves. Why did many orchestras start auditioning candidate behind a screen, where skill was the only thing on display. Why were orchestras for so many years all male and all white. I well remember a university student union election, 50 plus years ago, when strolling through the law faculty, I overheard two of the student election officials say: “as long as THE JEW doesn’t get in.” That Jew went on to a distinguished career, including as an author, head of Massey College, and Senator. Interestingly, the legal framework was in place for much though not all of that history. Canada thankfully looks a lot different than it did all those years ago. However, we haven’t been outraged in the intervening years when many qualified people did not get hired and we squandered human capital. Perhaps we can put our considerable skills to ensuring that rigorous standards are met, understanding that even now, as the old joke goes, 50% of all doctors and lawyers graduate in the bottom half of their class. If the DEI initiatives need to be modified or have a mechanism for hearing challenges, so be it but don’t forget what gave rise to them in the first place.
As far as I can tell, the problem with DEI isn't that it might accidentally cause a standards crisis, it's that it's *designed* to cause a standards crisis. Your reference to screened auditions for orchestras is an excellent example: I've read that some of the biggest orchestras have removed the screens in recent years because race/gender are now the *primary* considerations. When DEI commissars decreed that the majority of medical school seats at Toronto's Metropolitan University are designated for only certain races and gender identities, we've reached peak racism (and the end of competence).
I see. I did not know it went that far. That would mean they are aiming for catchup, which I understand but which is impracticable in the short run. I can see in situations where there are two candidates who are equally interesting, giving a leg up to the diversity candidate🥲 but that can only go so fast
Thank you for doing all this work to show how deeply the rot of DEI is spreading in professional associations in Canada. This should send shivers down the back of any person who wishes to live in a sane society.
It's definitely scary. But talking about it is perhaps our best defense.
All professional associations in Canada are already corrupted by their relationship with the (increasingly leviathan) state that grants them monopoly right to practice legislation. Their boards have government appointees and their staff are generally onboard with all the other institutions captured by cultural Marxism that now dominate the humanities faculties and wider culture. Their interest in maintaining their monopoly exceeds their interest in professionalism. One need only go back a couple of years to see the ease with which some of these professions canceled and ejected otherwise competent members questioning state directed political (not science-based) mandates within fully state-compliant and corrupted associations. We don't have professions offering objective standards of practice to willing buyers, we have guild socialism.
If the effect of this emphasis on DEI is to lower standards then that must be remedied. However, let us not forget the bad, old days. My dear, old, 83 year old friend who was a brain surgeon in the Maritimes for 50 years spoke of the difficulty that highly qualified others of his origin had getting hired, if there was ANYONE, who looked like the hospital hiring committee. He generalized the cause: people like to be with people who look, eat, worship, and love like themselves. Why did many orchestras start auditioning candidate behind a screen, where skill was the only thing on display. Why were orchestras for so many years all male and all white. I well remember a university student union election, 50 plus years ago, when strolling through the law faculty, I overheard two of the student election officials say: “as long as THE JEW doesn’t get in.” That Jew went on to a distinguished career, including as an author, head of Massey College, and Senator. Interestingly, the legal framework was in place for much though not all of that history. Canada thankfully looks a lot different than it did all those years ago. However, we haven’t been outraged in the intervening years when many qualified people did not get hired and we squandered human capital. Perhaps we can put our considerable skills to ensuring that rigorous standards are met, understanding that even now, as the old joke goes, 50% of all doctors and lawyers graduate in the bottom half of their class. If the DEI initiatives need to be modified or have a mechanism for hearing challenges, so be it but don’t forget what gave rise to them in the first place.
As far as I can tell, the problem with DEI isn't that it might accidentally cause a standards crisis, it's that it's *designed* to cause a standards crisis. Your reference to screened auditions for orchestras is an excellent example: I've read that some of the biggest orchestras have removed the screens in recent years because race/gender are now the *primary* considerations. When DEI commissars decreed that the majority of medical school seats at Toronto's Metropolitan University are designated for only certain races and gender identities, we've reached peak racism (and the end of competence).
I see. I did not know it went that far. That would mean they are aiming for catchup, which I understand but which is impracticable in the short run. I can see in situations where there are two candidates who are equally interesting, giving a leg up to the diversity candidate🥲 but that can only go so fast