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broyoyoyoyo t1_j8zlpfw wrote

Reply to comment by thecouplewithjoints in [OC] Prediction markets forecast the supreme court will end affirmative action by liortulip

To be fair fellow Canadian, Canadian universities do something similar, especially at law and med schools. Black & Indigenous students have lower GPA and LSAT/MCAT requirements for admission. Technically, that does mean that somebody of a different race can be passed over for a seat even if they have a stronger application since there are limited seats. Not commenting on whether that's right or wrong, just pointing it out.

And the US does protect many human rights by law, which is why their Supreme Court will probably rule against Harvard.

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thecouplewithjoints t1_j8znt2h wrote

Understand now. Thank you. I used to follow the issues but Trump kinda ruined politics for me. Too much trolling.

I'll look into this story.

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PlatypusAmbitious430 t1_j96zu4a wrote

>Black & Indigenous students have lower GPA and LSAT/MCAT requirements for admission. Technically, that does mean that somebody of a different race can be passed over for a seat even if they have a stronger application since there are limited seats

Source? I'm not Canadian but I had no idea that Canada had a similar system.

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broyoyoyoyo t1_j97d3ei wrote

You can find the info on some of the requirements pages of law/med schools. Most have separate "Black Student" and "Indigenous Student" streams. Some schools outright list the less rigorous standards.

Here are the requirements for Queens Law. General students need at least a 3.7 GPA, Black students need a 3.5.

Not saying that that's wrong, I agree with the idea that a meritocracy is only fair when everyone starts at the same place. But racial discrimination does get icky.

I prefer the way some other schools in Canada do it, by looking at economic factors instead. Instead of asking "are you race X", they ask "Have you ever been to a food bank, are your parents unemployed, etc".

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PlatypusAmbitious430 t1_j97dub6 wrote

That's so icky to me.

Is this not illegal in Canada as well then?

And to have it so brazenly on a site is beyond outrageous.

At least schools in the US try and pretend that they don't use it often (not saying it's acceptable but it's outrageous to me either way).

>I prefer the way some other schools in Canada do it, by looking at economic factors instead. Instead of asking "are you race X", they ask "Have you ever been to a good bank, are your parents unemployed, etc".

I have no problem with this.

That's how the UK does it at the moment.

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broyoyoyoyo t1_j97fm5z wrote

Well it might be unconstitutional. Race is a protected class and racial discrimination is explicitly forbidden in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

>Everyone is equal and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination, especially discrimination based on race, national or ethic origin, color, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability. This right does not preclude laws designed to ameliorate disadvantageous conditions that exist because of these factors.

I suppose where it gets messy is that these schools aren't penalizing a specific race like Harvard is, they're boosting 2 other races. Now that last part in the Charter

>This right does not preclude laws designed to ameliorate disadvantageous conditions that exist because of these factors.

might make it legal. The government can make laws to help/protect a race that is affected by discrimination. Can universities make policies that do the same? A court would have to decide, and I don't think anyone has taken these schools to court over this yet.

But I'm not a lawyer, so take that all with a grain of salt.

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