Mr. Speaker, when I was asked that question on the last Statistics Canada census under ethnic origin I put mongrel.
I do practise employment equity in my office. It is pretty hard when it is only three and a half people. The young man in my office said: "I am glad we do not have employment equity around here or I would not have a job". I said: "I should explain to you that I was looking around for a young man because I felt I have had a predominance of women in my office for some time and so you are the result of affirmative action".
The member fails to understand that I believe in the fundamental Liberal principle of the dignity and right of each human being to be considered on their merits and to be respected for themselves. I do not see that happening necessarily in employment. I see very capable people for reasons that have nothing to do with their qualifications or abilities not having the opportunity.
When I was on city council I asked our bus company why bus drivers had to be six feet tall. It said it was so they could reach the pedal. I said that meant most women could not qualify, most orientals could not qualify and no short person could qualify. That was pretty discriminatory. I asked what height had to do with it when what it wanted was someone who could reach the pedal; why not find out if a person could reach the pedal instead of measuring how tall they are. We changed that because it made sense to change it. Until then we had made sure a lot of very good bus drivers never had a chance to get hired.
The same kind of false criteria for policing have made sure a lot of very capable Canadians never had the opportunity to be police officers. It is about getting rid of those kinds of attitudes which have not allowed people to be considered on their merits.