Abstract
The publication of the Fraser Institute's Discrimination, Affirmative Action, and Equal Opportunity offers an occasion to review some of the practical and philosophical issues raised by affirmative action policy. Canadian affirmative action programs derive from the American context, which is here reviewed, but do not have the legal recourse available in the American system. Perhaps as a consequence, most Canadian programs have been carried out by governments acting in their role as employers. The Canadian Union of Public Employees has been especially active in developing union perspectives on affirmative action programs, which do raise special concerns for organized labour. Affirmative action raises several basic questions: the importance of proportionality, merit, compensation and role models in determining who is entitled to opportunities in our society. Differences between the Fraser Institute's attitude about affirmative action and attitudes of other social groups, such as the labour movement, lie in their very different assumptions about what constitutes a free society.
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Paula Chegwidden is Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Wendy R. Katz is Associate Professor at Saint Mary's University, Department of English, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her most important publication is: Introduction to Literature: British, American, and Canadian (with Gillian Thomas, Richard Perkyns, and Kenneth A. MacKinnon).
This paper was originally presented to the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. The authors thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for its financial support with travel expenses.
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Chegwidden, P., Katz, W.R. American and Canadian perspectives on affirmative action: A response to the Fraser Institute. J Bus Ethics 2, 191–202 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382902
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382902