I can’t stand legislated equality. To me, it benefits no one and it makes the group fighting for increased recognition sound like a bunch of petty whiners.
So when Prime Minister Paul Martin announced his cabinet appointments in Ottawa and the cry went up that there wasn’t enough female representation, I started to cringe. The rights groups were disappointed, the opposition took it as yet another broken campaign promise. Quotas were quoted, and the Liberals were slammed for dropping below their targets.
What are we, stocks?
Call me old-school, but I believe you should be awarded a job on merit. I couldn’t give a flying canoodle whether the Minister of Finance was a black, Asian, Jew, male, female, disabled eunich or an exotic combination thereof. If they can read a financial statement and can spot mismanagement at fifty paces, then I want them in that office. If they’re more suited to learning the ropes, doing the research and making the Minister look good, then put them in the backroom. We’ll all be better for it.
I reject tokenism as much as I do cronyism. Neither concept benefits anyone other than the person doing the hiring.
If The Boys have to be held accountable for their practices and if that means keeping them on a quota, then so be it. Just balance out What They Are with Who They Are. It can’t be that hard.
As for those who do the crusading, all I wish is that they would stop whining. No one ever got the promotions they deserved by screaming “what about meeeee?” Respect has to be earned, not demanded.