Written by Dan Howse
With files from Nicole Elsasser

At the Feb. 10 Central Student Association (CSA) board of directors meeting, a number of students protested the recently made changes to the CSA’s Employment Equity Program.
The CSA had proposed and passed the elimination of the provision in their own hiring process that gave an advantage to students who identified as being part of a marginalized group in the event that two candidates for a job fall within five percent of each other with respect to merit. More specifically, the previous provision applied to students that self-identified as a woman, an aboriginal person, a racialized person, a queer person, an international student, and/or person with a disability.
This provision was replaced by a new policy that tracks whether these marginalized persons are applying for jobs with the CSA. The board also amended the policy so that marginalized status would be considered when making the short list of applicants to ensure that the process is representative. But when making the final decision about the position, the candidate would be selected solely on merit.
Josh Gaber, the CSA’s human resources and operations commissioner, believes that ensuring the inclusion of these marginalized groups in the application and short listing process consequently ensures the hiring of marginalized persons, while simultaneously maintaining a level playing field for all candidates.
“The old policy we had in place was not addressing the actual concerns an employment equity policy should address,” said Gaber.
Students protesting this change, including Melissa Bryan, a second-year Sociology student, felt that not enough research went into the policy change.
“No research [seemed to have] been done on it,” said Bryan.
However, Gaber explained that the new provision in place is specifically what will allow the CSA to evaluate its employment equity policy.
“[In the old policy] there were no provisions in place for actually recognizing whether someone identifies with these groups after the application period has ended,” said Gaber. “It’s extra insurance to make sure that we’re not discriminating against people, especially in the short listing process.”
Gaber further explained that one of the advantages of the new policy is that it erases the notion that someone was simply selected as the obligatory ‘minority hire.’
“What [the old policy] implies is the notion that people that identify with these marginalized groups need that extra boost in order to get these jobs which is a mentality we want to steer away from,” said Gaber.
While some students raised their concerns with the CSA at the board meeting, this trend has not echoed across campus. Many students were simply uninformed about the issue to begin with. Others supported Gaber’s initiative to promote equality for all and ensure the best candidate is hired.
Fourth year Psychology student Isis Essery supports the CSA’s initiative.
“While I certainly wouldn’t want to see minorities disenfranchised, I wouldn’t want my application bumped because I’m a woman,” said Essery. “Ideally, people’s qualifications would be the only criteria for the job. Everyone should be treated equally.”

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