Diversity, equity and Inclusion - will it become a global trend?

Or is it just more "feel good" Liberal nonsense?

I keep hearing more progressives promoting “diversity, equity and inclusion” as if, like the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) fad, it might improve society. ESG is such demonstrable nonsense that I needn’t belabor it here. If society imposes ESG costs on the corporations that create the wealth our governments redistribute through tax regimes, they will be less profitable and our savings will be impaired, our economies weakened, and our ability to fund governments damaged.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is a more insidious leftist trope. The idea that gender, race or sexual orientation should be given a priority over knowledge and competence in staffing anything is a ludicrous concept that is itself systemic prejudice rather than a barrier to such prejudice. The concept of DEI can be applied anywhere and its adherents suggest it is a necessary prerequisite to “social justice”.

Let’s explore that.

Should the National Basketball Associations (NBA) choose players based on a formula that ensures that short white men are represented on teams in proportion to their percentage of society?

Should we attempt to compel Saudi Arabia make an effort to ensure LGBTQ+ Saudi’s are proportionally represented in the their government administration?

Should we try to compel Communist China ensure Muslim Uyghurs are proportionally represented on corporate boards of directors in the Ancient Kingdom?

Should medical schools relax entry qualifications to ensure proportionate admission of functionally illiterate and intellectually impaired candidates?

Should qualifications for airline pilots be lowered to ensure proportional representation for the sight and hearing impaired?

Should tennis legends like Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic be permitted to play in the Women’s Tennis Association tour by simply identifying as “female” should they choose to do so? My friend Michael Downey, President of Tennis Canada (and someone who has done more for Canadian tennis than anyone I know) seems to think so based on our short exchange on LinkedIn.

I am a big admirer of Michael Downey, I just disagree with his embrace of this toxic ideology which has the potential to put an end to biological women reaching the top of women’s sports. I note that in the early 1960’s I ran a mile in 4:41.7 seconds which at the time was faster than the women’s world record held by Diane Leather.

Diane Leather set the world’s fastest mile run by a woman September 21, 1955 at 4:45 and that record stood for 7 years.

I was not a world-class runner and it is ludicrous that I could have held a world record simply by “identifying” as a woman. Letting biological men compete as “women” is an affront to women and devalues their athletic abilities and contribution to sports. I was a competitive tennis player in the late 1960’s and if I had competed as a woman I might well have done well on the women’s tennis circuit. Laughable really.

The leftist ideology of DEI has laudable goals which I embrace - no one should be denied opportunity owing to race, religion or sexual orientation. The idea of “equity” - that everyone should enjoy “equal outcomes” regardless of ability or effor, is destructive to society. Innovation, accomplishment, effort are the cornerstones of economic advancement and all are motivated by a desire to outperform at some level - not to be “equal”. The destruction of our education system by leftist teachers that give medals for “participation” and where everyone gets a gold star has seen academic accomplishment degraded. In Ontario, when I was in high school, 5% of graduates achieved the status of “Ontario Scholar” [I did not]. Today it is over 60%. Students are not any brighter, but standards are now lower.

Canadian innovation is weak by world standards according to the Fraser Institute. In my opinion, this lagging performance is tied directly to a deteriorating education system suffering from “woke” ideology. A poor record of innovation contributes to Canada’s economic malaise under a Liberal government.

DEI is another leg of Liberal nonsense that cannot end well for Canada or for Canadians.