Mr. Speaker, employment equity was established by a Liberal government over a decade ago in the public service.
It was established because we wanted to ensure that the public service reflected the kind of population Canada has today and that it would remove unfair barriers to women, to aboriginals, to visible minorities and to the disabled from being able to gain employment in the public service. We wanted to make sure we created a level playing field.
For those who are concerned about reverse discrimination, let me point out that over half the employees of the public service are able-bodied males and half of all hirings in recent years have been able-bodied males.
The bottom line is that the merit principle is a cornerstone of hiring in the public service.