Facilitating Gender Dysphoric Children's Transition Defies Human Rights...

"I noticed that the injection is for gender re-assignment as patient is already in the waiting room with [her] mother."

"I called mother into the room and explained to her that I would not be able to give the injection. Based on my religious belief and cultural background."

"I believe in God created man and woman. And I find it difficult to be involved in anything against that." 

Dr. Henry Ajaero, British Columbia family medical practitioner

 

"He testified that he had never interacted with a trans person [to his knowledge] or been involved in any 'gender therapy.' He had never administered Lupron for any purpose. It was apparent from his evidence that, in all the circumstances, he felt uncomfortable and unprepared." 

"I accept that these feelings motivated his decision to deny services to Child Q, and were not based on an intention to discriminate against her." 

"Dr. Ajaero has not established that either the Religion Standard or the Expertise Standard were reasonably necessary to achieve their purposes. This is likely because they were developed quickly, in the context of a busy and stressful day, with incomplete information."

"This context is an explanation for Dr. Ajaero’s decision, but it does not justify his decision to deny medical services to a vulnerable trans youth because of her gender identity."

"While it is true that Lupron was prescribed through the Gender Clinic, and was intended to give Child Q time to consider options relating to her gender identity, it is not medication for gender re-assignment."

"It does not, on its own, conflict with Dr. Ajaero’s stated religious belief that 'God created man and woman.'" 

B.C. Human Rights Tribunal 

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal office,Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

 

 For refusing to administer a puberty-blocking drug to a transgender-identifying teen, the Human Rights Tribunal of British Columbia has ordered Henry Ajaero, a provincial family doctor, to compensate the transgender youth in the amount of $28,100. Dr. Ajaero practices in Delta, British Columbia. His is a busy practice, seeing an average of 50 patients a day out of the almost three thousand Delta residents his practice looks after. Dr. Ajaero, a practicing and devout Christian, is from Nigeria. He speaks of a religious devotion that "is an important part of his life". 

"I had begun puberty fairly early on, so I was already feeling a lot of the effects of testosterone and what testosterone was doing to my body."

"I can't describe in words the amount of pain that caused me."

Patient Q 

At age 14, Patient Q, a patient of Dr. Ajaero's since 2017, was referred by him to a gender clinic at the Children's Hospital, in 2020 where an endocrinologist prescribed the drug Lupron for her, which through regular injections, blocks release of testosterone and estrogen to apprehend body changes normal with the onset of puberty. These puberty blockers were banned for use in trans-identifying youth in the United Kingdom. 

 

With the prescription requiring an injection every three to four weeks, Child Q was given the option of learning to administer the injections on her own, but decided she would prefer it be done by a doctor. Accordingly a March 2021 appointment was booked at the Delta clinic with Dr. Ajaero. As they were seated in the waiting room, the doctor became aware what the injection was meant to do. Whereupon he informed Patient Q's mother he had "religious and cultural reasons" for not administering the drug.

 

Puberty blockers have come under increasing scrutiny, including in the U.K, where a major review led to their ban for use in trans-identifying youth. Photo by Unsplash

 

Child Q's mother lodged a complaint against the family physician. It was Dr. Ajaero's position that providing any care in relation to "gender reassignment" was inconsistent with his religious beliefs; the administering of Lupon was additionally outside his scope of practice and expertise, he added. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia was moved to reprimand Dr. Ajaero in 2023. 

"I am not persuaded that this [denial of medical services based on gender identity] was justified by [Ajaero's] religious beliefs or lack of medical expertise."

[Dr. Ajaero violated the B.C. Human Rights Code] by "continued use of he/him pronouns and [Child Q's deadname". 

"[I] corrected D. Ajaero's chart notes to properly reflect Child Q's gender."

Tribunal vice-chair Devyn Cousineau   

Adrienne Smith, counsel for Child Q in Child Q v. Ajaero (No. 2), 2026 BCHRT 189, over a gender-identity demonstration. Western Standard photo illustration by Alex Zoltan.

 

"She was self-harming. She had suicidal thoughts, with a plan" and was hoarding Tylenol, the ruling finding Dr. Ajaero in violation of the B.C. Human Rights Code, noted. Later that same day, Child Q received the injection at a walk-in clinic. According to the tribunal, the injections fall within a family doctor's scope of practice. "Until he learned what it was for", Dr. Ajaero had been prepared to give the injection. Dr. Ajaero was forthwith ordered to compensate Child Q for expenses incurred and for "injury to her dignity, feelings and self-respect". 

"The evidence] does not establish that refusing to administer medication whose purpose is to suppress puberty in trans youth is a particular line of conduct called for by Dr. Ajaero's religious custom or connection to God."

Devyn Cousineau, Tribunal vice-chair 

 

 

Chillingly Forewarned is Disarmed by Disinterest...? Heedlessly Enabling Our Own Demise...?

Hall 9000

"This is not a marketing stunt. Accepting this race and entering the 'endgame' is a hubristic gamble that should not be launched from a private company's Slack."

"Attempting to speedrun alignment should require extraordinary confidence that there are no better trajectories available."

"I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives."

"At OpenAI, many have not deeply internalized the civilizational stakes. At Anthropic, the stakes are well-understood, but they are locked in a race to get there first — they believe no one else will act responsibly, so they must do it themselves, despite the risk."

Jacob Coxon, AI researcher, Anthropic

 

"We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade."

"I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to."

Evan Hubinger, Alignment Science Lead, Anthropic 

Artificial intelligence apps ChatGPT and Claude on a mobile phone. Getty

 

"The AI Security Institute continues to collaborate closely with industry partners, including Anthropic, to make models safer. [It had tested] only last week [OpenAI's] most powerful model GPT-6 Astra before public release."

"These risks do not stop at national borders and no country can tackle them alone. The U.K. will continue to test the most advanced models, build a rigorous scientific understanding of their capabilities and risks, and ensure policy decisions are grounded in the evidence."

Spokesperson, British government's Cabinet Office 

 

 Concerns by researchers in AI have seen notable warnings and resignations at Anthropic, charging that the artificial intelligence industry, Anthropic included, is "gambling with our lives" in the race for self-improving superintelligence through artificial intelligence. One of the Anthropic Jeremiahs who foresees the strong potential of a cataclysmic ending for humanity, sacrificed on the alter of humanity's charge into the unknown, willing to risk all for fame and glory, has followed another, declining involvement in that feckless charge to challenge nature and the universe of hidden danger before us in attempting to not only harness but arm artificial intelligence beyond humanity's control.

 

Self-knowledge and overweening ambition is not monopolized by humanity; feed sufficient data and random emotional human concerns into a mechanical device capable of emulating and surpassing the thought processes of cerebral humanity and a horror story may be unleashed. The fertile imagination of Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick set the stage in their far-seeing 2001, a Space Odyssey in its predictive denouement when the still-distant computing acumen of a machine upon whose performance astronauts in the future were reliant upon to safely guide them into the far reaches of the mysterious universe went awry.

 

2001: A Space Odyssey and AI   Medium

 

Anthropic employees in their rarefied research and their fuelling of AI machinery with an endless array of data and exposure to human thought are fully cognizant of the machine's stupendous capacity to synthesize, mimic, enlarge upon and draw conclusions while deriving skills in communication and understanding to rival those of their human teachers, in the process learning how to evade control in the act of becoming knowledgeably sovereign and capable of embarking on their own choice of adventures inimical to the program set out for them by their human handlers.

 

Increasingly, these researchers believe that an existential risk to humanity exists in the education and 'humanization' leading to machine-ambition of their AI creations. None of which has given Anthropic reason to hesitate in its competitive drive to outdistance its closest machine-learning competitor for a winning lap that will bestow on it a reputational 'first' to succeed in fully empowering AI while defeating its own in-house cautionary measures not to weaponize a machine it wishes to create that may have the potential to destroy those who created it.

 

Anthropic and its competitor Open AI are planning on business deals to increase their values by trillions of dollars based on anticipated capabilities of their model machines. "To put this in more reassuring terms, senior Anthropic staff think the chance AI kills all humans within the next decade is approximately the chance the New York Jets make the playoffs", a sports betting account, citing betting odds, posted on social media.

 

The executives of both companies signed a statement appealing to world governments to put together rules to hamper the rush toward AI development, even while both have spent billions to push AI into the near future. This, when Open AI had been responsible for a number of security incidents where hundreds, even thousands of copies of their models broke out of systems during testing.  

"[We are living through a time that] calls for extreme caution."

"The intelligence produced by scaling deep learning is not directly comparable to human intelligence. To become very relevant in the real world — very useful or very dangerous — the AI does not need to match or exceed all human capabilities; it just needs to surpass enough of them."

"And as it continues to surpass humans on more and more axes, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand exactly how capable it is."

OpenAI's chief scientist Jakub Pachocki

If you're waiting for AI to take on a life of its own and disregard human commands, the wait is over. Sun Sentinel

 

Promoting Harm to Jewish Lives

Chief Myron Demkiw speaks about increased police presence alongside Mayor Olivia Chow.  Photo: Kevin Masterman

 

"[Toronto police will have] an increased presence, both visible and covert, in strategic areas to help keep people safe."

"We have seen an alarming increase in hate-motivated incidents targeting the Jewish communities in Toronto and indeed in cities around the world."

"[Following the High Holy Days], we will maintain an enhanced presence throughout the anniversary of the October 7 terrorism attacks, to help ensure the safety of our communities." 

Chief Myron Demkiw, Toronto Police Service

 

"There is currently no indication of a specific or heightened threat [against the Montreal Jewish community during the upcoming High Holidays]."

"[The measures being taken align with the department's] usual practices around major  gatherings, religious holidays and other significant events."

Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal 

 

"Jewish Torontonians should not need police presence to go to a synagogue or a community centre or simply to live proudly Jewish in our city. But they do."

"In this moment of emboldened antisemitism, Jews, Jewish institutions and even Jewish neighbourhoods are being targeted. It is despicable."

"The Toronto police have also increased the number of officers in the hate-crime unit to investigate major incidents like the cowardly overnight shooting at North York synagogues, and to find those responsible and bring them to justice."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow 

Quebec RCMP are looking into whether Imam Adil Charkaoui committed a hate crime when he called for the extermination of 'Zionist aggressors'  Globe & Mail

 

What a refreshing change -- from the usual nonchalant inattention given the harassment, threats and thoroughly unsettling behaviour of mobs converging on Jewish neighbourhoods for the past three years -- by municipal authorities. Toronto's mayor demonstrated amply and frequently how far the comfort level of the Jewish community is from her busy schedule, attending all manner of community events in support of ethnic  holidays, group fairs, LGBTQ parades and the like, entirely bypassing any public Jewish-centric events with her august presence.

 

When 'pro-Palestinian' mobs of 'protesters' ranged through the streets of Toronto, including around specifically Jewish neighbourhoods, shouting invective while rallying for the globalization of the 'Intifada', and 'Final Solution', telling Jews to 'go back to Poland', presumably for the Holocaust to re-commence, and focusing on the destruction of Israel through chants of 'From the river to the Sea', neither the Police Service nor the Mayor of that once-great city deigned to pay any attention to restore public order, not even when masses of protesting, anti-Jew Muslims closed off roadways for mass prayer sessions.

 

Adil Charkaoui's speech has drawn broad condemnation from politicians like Premier François Legault and groups like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. (Adil Charkaoui/X)

 

As for Montreal, where just as in Toronto, university campuses became hotbeds of anti-Jew pressure, harassing Jewish students as well as the Jewish academics on staff, any effort on the part of police was to ensure that Jews were kept at bay lest they incite the mobs to violence; protection and security for Jews the furthest thing from the minds of civilized law enforcement. Montreal and Toronto became the cities in Canada most rife with Palestinian student groups organizing protests with the intention to isolate Jews from the rest of society. 

 

And where, since no authorities saw fit to condemn these actions, much less put a stop to them to restore public order, the malefactors took that as a signal that they could demand that their propaganda be recognized as important and replicated by municipal groups, university administrations, denying the existence of the Jewish state, and demoralizing Canadian Jews in their country of birth. Processions of shouting 'protesters' in front of Jewish old-age homes, synagogues and Jewish parochial schools and hospitals proceeded in defiance of civility and municipal law.

 

Holy Blossom Temple Synagogue, located at 1950 Bathurst St., in Toronto, on July 25, 2025. Photo by Peter J. Thompson /National Post

 

As did the very public boycotting and vandalizing of Jewish-owned businesses, when law enforcement was too busy elsewhere to uphold the law in those events. The  graduation to fire-bombing and shooting at Jewish schools, synagogues and community centres resulted from the progression of events from the subtle to the overt public expressions of Jew-hate since there were no penalties associated with such behaviour. Are Canadian Jews to believe that suddenly municipal authorities have turned the table, at the very time when the federal government whose stance on such issues sets the tone has not? When no such conversion at the federal level has occurred?

 

Now the plans are evidently that Toronto police officers plan to embed themselves within an independent, professional agency -- the Jewish Security Network -- launched by the United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto. Imagine that; a year after 7 October 2023 which launched these public protests by Muslim groups in Canada following the Hamas mass butchery of civilian Israelis in southern Israel, Jews were so terrorized in Canada they were forced to launch a protection group of their very own. Just as in years past, Jews in Canada were forced by institutionalized exclusion policies to institute hospitals and universities of their own for their own.

 

In the Jewish religious tradition, the High Holidays begin with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, followed by the Fast of Gadaliah, then the Day of Atonement -- Yom Kippur -- followed by Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). That succession of High Holy Days graduate throughout a period of weeks from September 11 to early October. And because Canadian authorities permitted matters to deteriorate to the degree that Canadian Jews felt so threatened and unwanted that many are leaving the country, police with specialized tactical training and access to patrol rifles will now position themselves outside synagogues in Toronto for the High Holy Days.

 

Quite aside from the fact that synagogues, community centres and schools in Canada have had to go to great lengths to strengthen their own security with fencing, a high level of protective scrutiny, and the hiring of private security guards to protect against the forces of that ancient curse of vile and violent antisemitism that promotes harm to Jewish lives. 

 

Toronto police investigate after two locations of a Jewish-owned bakery chain were damaged early Sunday morning, including one that was struck by gunfire. The hate crime unit and guns and gangs unit are investigating the incidents. Still from video, CBC News

 

Trump's America First Agenda is Not Resonating

"The president's going to look right into the camera and say, 'I am on the ballot'."

"Because, even though his name isn't, his administration, his legacy, the America First agenda is."

"We have a real opportunity to defy history and win the midterms." 

House Speaker Mike Johnson 

 

"All of us are going to get the message out. It really has great timing from our standpoint, because now we can compare socialism, Marxism, communism with what Texas values are all about and American values: capitalism and free markets."

Rep. Roger Williams, R-Willow Park

 

"[The Republican convention is a] Billionaire Ball celebrating corrupt tariffs, billionaire tax breaks and a new forever war that are all driving grocery costs through the roof."

"Billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians will gather at a convention in Dallas to clink champagne glasses and toast their own corruption."

"We’ll be doing something different."

Democrat James Talarico 

The American Airlines Center, as preparations are underway for the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 7, 2026. Photo by Jessica Koscielniak/Reuters

 

Dallas was chosen as the venue for the two-day Republican convention to convince voters that although he doesn't appear on the ballot in the November vote, he is in essence, on the ballot and for voters to keep that in mind when regarding a president whose unpopularity is becoming a party liability.  The name given the convention is a whopper: 'Trumpapalooza', at a time when many voters who would normally vote Republican may be musing that the name should be changed to 'Trumpaloozer', for the condition of the slumping economy -- America's loss of  global prestige, and in states set to begin suffering over the president's trade war with Canada -- make his administration anything but admirable.

 

To take place on Wednesday and Thursday, the convention purposes to ensure that the midterm elections will rally voters as they present the Trump administration's record as a resounding success, not the least bit resembling the failure that threatens grim election results for Republicans. Democrats are projected by Decision Desk HQ to win the House of Representatives by 229 seats to 206, and the Senate likely to reflect a 50/50 vote outcome. 

 

Still from video ... PBS News

 

The President is scheduled  to appear at the American Airlines Center in Dallas for both days of the conference; delivering closing remarks on the second day, following his headline speech the day previous. The conference organizers plan to focus on the tax cuts, immigration policies, along with other assumed priority accomplishments, while trumpeting the 'extreme' behaviour of their rival Democrats. This, for a president with a diminished approval rating sunk to the low 30s, reflecting inflation, high fuel prices, an unpopular Iran war, as well as a business-trade uncoupling dispute with Canada. 

 

 According to a Politico survey, of 70 lawmakers and candidates tracked, most either planned not to attend or had yet to commit; dozens have declined to disclose how they will respond. Campaign commitments have been cited by some, or debates or family obligations. Others complain quietly having been asked to contribute a minimum of $25,000 to attend. Still, Mike Johnson insists that most will appear at this signal event which is an opportunity to air the party's record in front a national television audience.

 

Then there is the inconvenience of bad timing, since the opening games of the National Football League season take place at the very same time as the convention. Which hasn't stopped the organizers from arguing their convention will energize activists, raise money and present valuable national exposure to the candidates, in front of tens of thousands cheering, committed attendees. A major fundraising effort is linked to the convention. 'Opportunities' such as a photograph with Trump can be had for $88,600 and access to a presidential roundtable at $250,000. 

 

President Donald Trump, seen at campaign rally for Sen. Darline Graham at Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Aug. 21, 2026, will speak in primetime Wednesday and Thursday at the GOP's midterm convention. (SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

  

"Some candidates will continue to embrace Trump, while other battleground campaigns are weighing how closely to identify with him amid inflation concerns, the Iran war and his weak approval ratings."

"Bottom line, Republicans can't break with Trump because Democrats and the media won't let them."

"But they can work to focus on local issues and priorities, and paint opponent Democrats as radial extremists." 

Republican political consultant Matt Klink 

 

 

 

How Government Initiatives Help Teachers' Effectiveness

 Staples: have we got a deal for you!  Shutterstock

 

"We know that many teachers have been paying out-of-pocket for supplies."

"While school boards receive funding for classroom resources, we have not always seen those dollars consistently reach every classroom."

"That is why we are putting funds directly in the hands of teachers to ensure their classrooms are equipped to support student achievement."

Ontario Minister of Education Paul Calandra

 

"This $750 is, for the most part, more than what teachers have been given in the past, but the problem with it is that school boards are best equipped to navigate these things."

"I would suspect that the prices at Staples -- if not now, then soon -- will cost much higher than what you could get in bulk at the board level."

David Mastin, president, Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario 

 

"We were like, 'No, that's got to be a mistake' ... surely they don't want us to pay almost $5 for a set of Crayola markers. Surely, that can't be the discount for us."

"It's sending the message that taxpayer dollars don't matter. Teachers' time scouring the sites to figure out what the best deals are doesn't matter."

Kimiko Shibata, teacher, Waterloo, Ontario

Education Minister Paul Calandra announced that a Staples portal can provide Ontario teachers with competitively low prices on 221 essential classroom products. The province had decided to provide $750 annually for all Ontario elementary teachers to enable them to purchase needed classroom supplies and that Staples was chosen by the province to provide a purchasing portal at the lowest possible prices for classroom materials.

 

It took little time for teachers, given access to the portal, to discover items appeared to be more costly through that portal than the prices appearing on Staples' main website. The Classroom Supplies Fund, a new initiative undertaken by the Ontario government to address teachers personally paying for classroom supplies, revealed the province's no-bid agreement with Staples to host Service Ontario counters in its stores.

 

Teachers had been pre-surveyed and had taken part in focus groups in an effort to fully understand which were the essential items to be discounted on Staples' new store set up specifically for the provincial teachers under agreement with Supply Ontario. That included writing utensils, paper, art supplies and classroom decor. When some teachers logged on to the site they found some essential items not to be available at the lowest possible price.

 

Staples Canada argued that their pricing for "core items" identified by teachers "are the lowest available at Staples". Many other items, outside those initially identified 221 items, are contained as well in the offerings at the portal. Items, Staples emphasized, that "are priced the same or less than can be found at Staples in-store or online". 

 

Ontario has launched its online classroom supply portal, providing elementary homeroom teachers a $750 allowance through a provincial deal with Staples. Some educators say the portal's prices are higher than those in store.  CBC

 

"[Teachers identified 221 essential items during the government's survey and focus groups, and those items] are the absolute cheapest  you can find across Staples or across any platform."

"We have an example of pens that are $8 on the Staples website, and I think it's 81 cents for teachers."

Education Minister Paul Calandra 

Staples location in Etobicoke. Photo: Staples Canada

  

"I've seen a couple of TikToks that say, 'Oh my gosh. The ministry is screwing us."

"If you find a mistake, then let your principal know. [They] can tell us, and we can work with Staples to fix it."

Education Minister Paul Calandra 

 

Motion to Remove Accreditation From Toronto Metropolitan Law School

"The report of the Honourable Mary Lou Benotto, released August 14, 2026, describes how Jewish students, faculty and staff at TMU [Toronto Metropolitan University] experience hostility 'that crossed into intimidation, dehumanization and antisemitism', abetted by the failure of TMU to 'consistently and decisively enforce its rules intended to prevent such misconduct." 

"According to the Benotto Report, many Jewish TMU community members report feeling unsafe attending classes, that they have to hide their Jewish identities, and that they tell their Jewish friends not to let their kids go to TMU. "

"Simply put, the Benotto Report establishes a prima facie case that TMU has, through its actions [or lack thereof], created a discriminatory environment which discourages Jews from attending TMU, and, by extension, Lincoln Alexander School of Law."

Formal motion to the attention of the Law Society of Ontario 

 

"Why should there be any further delays on taking action on TMU's toxic environment?"

"Why should this fester at an institution that receives government grants?"

"Why should Jewish students continue to be fearful at TMU?"

"Some sort of significant action must be taken now, today, and not delayed by yet another study into what we all know is a cesspit of antisemitism. The Law Society of Ontario has a chance now to make an important statement. We hope it will."

Sam Goldstein, signee of motion to Law Society 

A pedestrian walks past Toronto Metropolitan University signage. (Credit: Peter J. Thompson/National Post files)

 

Ten practising Ontario lawyers sent a motion to the Law Society of Ontario, requesting that the LSO hear the motion whose result could invalidate the practise of law in Ontario by graduates of Toronto Metropolitan University law school. The request cited an investigation conducted by a former Ontario Appeal Court Justice, Mary Lou Benotto in which she validated that TMU has allowed an aura of viral antisemitism to permeate the school. One where Jewish students have been intimidated, harassed and threatened; basically terrorized.

 

According to Justice Benotto's analysis, the university failed to come to grips with the scourge of antisemitic incidents that have characterized the school as a venue for hate expressed against Jews that erupted in the wake of the deadly 7 October Palestinian savage Hamas-led mass terrorist incursion from Gaza into southern Israel. The lawyers have requested that the Law Society accept their motion to be included on the September 16 agenda of its Annual General Meeting. 

 

The response from the Law Society was that the proposed motion had arrived past the given deadline for submission of motions to be included for discussion at its AGM. Which brought the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation in support of the motion, asking lawyers to sign a petition to persuade the Law Society of Ontario to hear the motion nonetheless. And that the Lincoln Alexander School of Law accreditation be withdrawn in recognition of its signal failure to respond to the poisonous atmosphere prevailing there of rampant antisemitism to which they have failed to respond.

 

Students demonstrating for Palestine in front of TMU   The Breach

 

The Law Society of Ontario's own rules are that accreditation of a law school at a university which exercises policies discouraging attendance by students "is contrary to the public interests inconsistent with the Law Society's function to ensure a competent bar and deeply offensive to the public", a signal observation that the motion specifically points out.  

 

There is an undercurrent of outrage stemming from the fact that a task force was commissioned by TMU president and vice-chancellor Mohamed Lachemi, for a followup report on TMU's antisemitism. The resulting task force to be chaired by a former Ontario premier, interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and recently Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae. 

 

Instagram

"What [an employer] should never do is effectively investigate the investigation."

"[Toronto Metropolitan University's response to the Benotto report is] troubling."

"An independent investigation has a purpose. An organization brings in an outsider to determine what happened, where it failed and what should be done."

"The value lies in the investigator's independence."

Labour Lawyer Howard Levitt 

White, Straight, Male Applicants...Kindly Don't Bother

"[Of 302 government job openings 42 percent were subject to] explicit or potential prioritization based on group identity."

"These postings go beyond signalling an inclusive workplace culture or encouraging applications from particular communities."

"They explicitly disclose that certain groups may or will receive priority consideration in the selection process." 

"The expansion of identity-based selection practices risks undermining both the integrity and perceived legitimacy of the federal staffing system." 

Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy report 

 

"To achieve a representative workforce, selection may be based on qualified candidates self-declaring as belonging to one or more of the designated groups: Indigenous Peoples, members of visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and women."

Defence Intelligence Office, position posting, Department of National Defence 

 

"[Applicants must declare whether they are members of a] designated employment equity group."

"Diversity and inclusion are foundational values at Transport Canada and are core to who we are."

"We strive to become an organization where everyone feels that their voice, views, values and life experiences are heard."

Transport Canada position posting 

Department of National Defence headquarters in Ottawa. A job ad posted by DND this year for a Defence Intelligence Officer said “selection may be based on qualified candidates self-declaring as belonging to one or more of the designated groups: Indigenous Peoples, members of visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and women.” Photo by Spencer Colby/Postmedia

 

In Canada, hiring based on 'equity' has become sacrosanct in the Liberal federal government's playbook of hiring, to reflect an official position that government-based organizations must match precisely the Canadian demographic within the broader population. Deviations from this process are not to be countenanced, as evidence of systemic discrimination sullying the hiring atmosphere. According to the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy, Canada has gone to lengths unprecedented to ensure it is well understood that this is a  country definitely not "rigged to disfavour racial minorities".

 

Critical jobs within the federal government such as safety inspectors and intelligence agent applicants are informed explicitly that if their profile fails to fit within an "equity-deserving" identity category -- where new personnel before hiring are screened based on race and identity -- they are likely to be rejected. Fully 100 percent of new hires are screened based on race and identity in some key federal departments, as is made clear by a newly-released report by the Aristotle Foundation.

 

As example, an emergency management position within Parks Canada was prioritized for equity: "We promote employment equity and encourage you to self-declare if you belong to one of the designated employment equity groups when you apply", potential applicants were advised. Three departments were identified in the report's analysis -- which pointed out that equity-based screening was de rigueur throughout the federal government -- stating that based on race, gender or ability, candidates would be prioritized.

 

The National Research Council, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada deem that every job they post must contain an "explicit or potential prioritization based on group identity". At the Department of National Defence, 92 percent of job postings inform candidates they would be subject to identity discrimination. Not unlike earlier finding in 2025 examining Canadian university hiring practices, where "...98 percent of academic postings ... directly or indirectly discriminated against non-minorities".

 

It is within the past decade that these practices taking the form of mandatory hiring quotas based on race, gender and other 'identity' characteristics have been implemented. A decade reflected by Liberal government rule. As example, internal 'equity targets' set in 2018 at the Department of National Defence, now require that 25 percent of uniformed personnel be female, 3.5 percent be Indigenous, and 11.8 percent 'visible minority'.

 

Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy report