August 19, 1996 For Immediate Release
RCMP STILL COMMITTED TO DISCRIMINATORY HIRING QUOTAS
"RCMP hiring should be based on equal opportunity for all and who's the best person for the job."
Yorkton - In 1995, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, released data which showed that the RCMP had established unfair hiring quotas. Well 1996 is no different. RCMP Commissioner Phil Murray was quoted in a recent newspaper article: "We don't like to talk about quotas," he says when referring to this year's recruits, "we prefer to use the term targets." Then bilingual Murray explains that 160 of 700 recruits will be women, 160 will be aboriginals and 160 will be visible minorities." (Ottawa Citizen - August 3, 1996). "I think most Canadians would like to know what the difference is between a 'target' and a 'quota'," commented Breitkreuz. "This year 480 RCMP recruits (68.6%) will be selected primarily on the basis of their female gender, race and the colour of their skin -- presumably, the other 220 (31.4%) will be selected on merit. This is blatant discrimination and amounts to unfair treatment for hundreds of more qualified RCMP applicants," protested Breitkreuz.
"These days more and more families are worried about their personal safety and want to know that the most qualified police officers we can find will be out there protecting them. Canadians don't need hiring quotas or targets -- Canadians need and deserve the best RCMP recruits in the country," demanded Breitkreuz. "If the 'best' recruits also happen to be a woman, an aboriginal or a visible minority then they deserve to take their place among that elite group at the top of the class. However, if they are hired ahead of more qualified applicants just because of some arbitrary bureaucratic quota -- some social engineer's idea of equality --then it is obvious to everyone that the 'best' RCMP officers will not be patrolling our highways and streets."
Last week, internal RCMP reports revealed that almost half the female applicants to the RCMP flunk the physical-fitness requirements and those who do make the grade quit the force at twice the rate of male recruits. "How are the RCMP responding to this problem?" asked Breitkreuz. "With more special treatment and making it easier for women to qualify than men!" The RCMP report says, "Upper body strength is an area of difficulty for women and this requirement is being reviewed by RCMP medical specialists." The report continues, "In the meantime, the RCMP has introduced a pre-training program for women. When women apply, they're sent for a six-week training program designed to help in improving their fitness prior to taking the fitness test." (Ottawa Sun - August 12, 1996).
"So here we have the first evidence that the RCMP brass is considering watering-down the entrance requirements for female applicants. The special six-week pre-training program for women is just one more example of discrimination against male applicants. Canadians don't want weaker and weaker RCMP recruits just so the Liberal social engineers can hire more women -- we want strong Mounties capable of meeting every requirement of the job. The government should set high intellectual and physical standards and demand that every RCMP recruit meet them -- hire the first 700 from the top of this list be they man or woman, black or white, or aboriginal -- that's equal and it's fair," concluded Breitkreuz.
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