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Ontario Premier Doug Ford has scored a rare victory against the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) doctrine that has infested Ontario universities. A source in the premier’s office says that at Ford’s request, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) has backed down on a plan to reserve 75 per cent of the places in its new medical school for “equity-deserving” groups.
Students who are Black, Indigenous or certain other racial minorities, poor, disabled or 2SLGBTQ+ were to be given preference for admissions. Various standards were to be eased to facilitate the process. The university is no longer talking about quotas, instead saying in a statement this week that it will work with the government to create an outstanding medical school.
Ford was right to call out TMU’s discriminatory admissions plan, but it’s only one example of a broader problem. For Ontario’s universities, and many others elsewhere, equity has become a key organizing principle that can affect admissions, hiring and promotion. Merit is a secondary consideration, if that.
Equity, of course, is not like equality. In fact, as currently defined it’s the opposite. Rather than treating everyone equally, equity attempts to make up for past discrimination, real or perceived, by discriminating against other groups today.
It’s a nonsensical approach, but it’s popular in universities, a place where stupid ideas can live in perpetuity. The umbrella website for Ontario’s universities features DEI on its web page, as if it is some kind of attractant. If offers helpful links to university equity-promoting policies.
DEI is not some harmless effort to be fair. It rests on the idea that Canada is defined by colonialism, racism, even genocide. In the extreme, the argument is that Canada is not even a legitimate country. This approach was reflected in the recent federal report into missing Indigenous children and unmarked graves.
It’s a shallow and ahistorical view of how the world works. Throughout human history, groups with greater numbers, better weapons and superior fighting skills have taken territory from others. In the big picture, Canada is low on the scale of villainy.
One would hope that Canada’s political leaders would counter the bleak view of Canada put forward by the far left, but the usual response has been either silence or an apology — accompanied by a cheque. The lack of action by conservative leaders is especially disappointing, but Ford has a real chance to do better.
As is often the case, the public is ahead of the politicians. DEI-friendly parties are failing. Democrats just got thumped in this week’s U.S. election. The Liberal and NDP parties nationally and in Ontario are both foundering. There are multiple reasons why, but one is that they no longer reflect broader public opinion.
The absurdity of TMU’s approach has given Ford an opening and he should take it. Rather than quietly pricking one balloon, he should deflate all of them. The premier needs to make a clear statement on the harms of DEI, then do something about it.
Ford should say, “My government believes in treating all Ontarians equally. Ontario kids should all have the same shot at university programs, no matter their background or skin colour. Ontario is a diverse province. The idea that some groups can’t succeed without special treatment is both patronizing and wrong.
Ford could add: “I’m not going to allow universities to use taxpayers’ dollars or students’ tuition money to pay for programs that discriminate against any group of Ontarians.”
Ford has a big lever in the form of the billions of dollars that the provincial government spends annually on universities. Financial punishment for persisting with DEI policies ought to get the attention of universities. If it doesn’t, legislation would.
The legality of such an approach is a bit murky, at least on the surface. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms confirms people’s equality but allows affirmative-action programs, as does human rights legislation. The Supreme Court of Canada has generally backed equity over equality.
This is why we have the Charter’s notwithstanding clause, which allows elected governments to override portions of the Charter for five-year periods. Ford has used the clause previously to limit third-party election advertising and has said he’s willing to use it again if Ontario city mayors ask him for the power to dismantle homeless encampments.
The rot in our universities is a rather larger problem. University students ought to be encouraged to consider multiple points of view and question the orthodoxy of their elders. Instead, they are force-fed misleading groupthink and dissent is not welcome.
It’s high time someone brought all that to a stop and no one is better positioned to do it than Doug Ford.
It won’t be easy. Universities guard their fiefdoms jealously and they are adept at repelling government involvement. Like any politician, Ford prefers to pick his fights, but sometimes one just has to stand up for the right thing.
National Post
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