[Bcma-l] summer students

[bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca]

Hi Kathy,
I want to be sure that I made myself clear. We have a strong commitment to
RECRUIT from disadvantaged communities, including visible minorities. We do
this simply because it is the responsible and ethical thing to do, not
because anyone dangles money in front of us.

My problem is that Service Canada misused the English language by writing
"hire" (to engage the services of a person or persons for wages or other
payment) where they really meant "recruit" (to attempt to acquire the
services of a person for an employer).

The difference is more than splitting hairs; it is the difference between
ethical behaviour and racism. I am certain that Service Canada is NOT
racist. They simply misused the English language in the application form.

Peter Thompson
Managing Director, Two Rivers Gallery
--
"The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by
the answers."
James Baldwin (1924–1987) 


-----Original Message-----
From: bcma-l-admin@museumsassn.bc.ca [mailto:bcma-l-admin@museumsassn.bc.ca]

Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 11:06 AM
To: bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca
Subject: Re: [Bcma-l] summer students


Hi Peter,
Thank-you for your detailed information.  We must have fallen to a similar 
fate. I too have a HUGE issue with the commitment to hire people from 
visible minorities.  It's like reverse racism.  Most visible minorities in 
rural communities are well integrated. In our small town we see people as 
people.  All willing workers are well appreciated.  Our biggest problem 
usually is finding a qualified student who doesn't want to work in the 
resort industry where the tips give them a substantially greater income.
Kathy Gray Skookumchuck Heritage Society Egmont Heritage Centre Egmont, BC
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <bcma-l-admin@museumsassn.bc.ca>
To: <bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca>
Cc: <pina.sia@servicecanada.gc.ca>; 
<nc-fairness-impartialite-gd@servicecanada.gc.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:14 PM
Subject: RE: [Bcma-l] summer students


> This morning Two Rivers Gallery got a letter from Service Canada 
> informing us that none of our summer positions were funded under 
> Canada Summer Jobs. We had applied for 4 positions; we have gotten 
> funding for summer students for the past 8 years, in recent years for 
> 2 positions through Service Canada (HRDC).
>
> Our application received a rating of 31 out of a possible 70; the 
> cutoff
> was
> 35 for non-profit applications across BC.
>
> I phoned a program officer at Service Canada and went through our 
> application in detail. I discovered a number of problems.
>
> The Applicant Guide had asked us to "Describe, in order of priority, 
> the
> job(s) you are proposing". The rating, however, seems to average the 
> scores
> across the entire institution, and appears to fund all, or none at all. 
> This
> means that Two Rivers Gallery would have scored well above the cutoff if 
> we
> had applied for only our 2 highest priority positions, but asking for the
> other 2 to be funded ended up sabotaging all 4. This cost us 5 points.
>
> The assessment criteria do not take into account jobs that are based 
> in
> one
> community but focused on delivering services in another. We are based in
> Prince George (pop 50K to 100K, 2 points), but our regional outreach is
> focused on communities like Dunster, McBride, Valemount & Mackenzie (pop.
> under 5K, 5 points).
>
> I also have a big problem with the wording of criteria #4, "Employer 
> is committed to hiring priority students" (Aboriginal, with 
> disabilities, visible minority). Being naïve, I interpreted this to 
> mean we had to commit to hiring a priority student. Since our own 
> internal non-discrimination policy commits us to "not discriminate on 
> the basis of ethnicity, colour,...
> disability" etc., it was impossible to give a commitment to hire based on
> any of these categories. The cruel irony is that we did of course actively
> recruit from all members of society and hire a young woman who is a 
> visible
> minority; a young woman whose job is now jeopardized by Service Canada's
> funding decision. What Service Canada should have said is that the 
> Employer
> is committed to RECRUITING priority students. Another 5 points gone.
>
> I also made the mistake of putting activities in the employability 
> skills category which they wanted to see in the mentoring category. 
> There went another 2 points.
>
> All in all a very frustrating experience.
>
> peter thompson
> Managing Director, Two Rivers Gallery
> --
> "A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." Michelangelo 
> Buonarroti (1475-1564)
>
>
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> 


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