Last week, a report by Macdonald-Laurier Institute senior fellow Eric Kaufmann and co-authors detailed the high cost of the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) quota system in academia.
asserted
report → detail → academia
They showed that the prestigious Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program — a $300 million annual federal expenditure to keep research talent in the country — has sacrificed excellence in pursuit of diversity.
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program → show → diversity
Specifically, the discriminatory recruitment of Black, Indigenous, and female CRCs diminished research productivity: these “equity-deserving” groups were 10 to 15 per cent less productive than whites, Asians and males after controlling for career length and discipline.
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groups → diminish → length
They estimated that EDI discrimination costs the CRC program about $36 million every year — amounting to a 12 per cent tax to support a policy that slows science.
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that → estimate → science
Yet discrimination persists despite every CRC “equity target” having been met or exceeded.
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target → persist → ?
For example, the 2029 quota for non-whites (the “racialized” category) is set at 22 per cent.
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quota → set → cent
That target was surpassed long ago, and the proportion of non-white chair holders now stands at 34 per cent.
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proportion → surpass → cent
Another study published last week found little reliable evidence for EDI quotas.
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study → publish → quotas
This comprehensive analysis by Concordia University’s Zachary Patterson and co-authors concluded that, while science can benefit from interdisciplinarity, there is “little empirical evidence that diversity, as defined narrowly by demographic or identity diversity, improves scientific output and impact.
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diversity → conclude → output
While discriminatory quotas capture public attention — they’re highly visible, morally dubious and easily measurable — other, more insidious, costs of EDI are less appreciated.
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costs → capture → EDI
Foremost among them is compelled political speech.
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speech → compel → them
That’s no exaggeration: scientists must personally express support for EDI to qualify for many federal research grants.
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scientists → ’ → grants
Venturing even into classically liberal territory risks rejection.
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Venturing → venture → rejection
I speak from experience.
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I → speak → experience
In 2025, my Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) was not renewed despite receiving high scores on the scientific components of my application.
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Grant → renew → application
The key problem was that I failed to “describe an approach to recruit diverse (Highly Qualified Personnel) and provide an inclusive training environment.”
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I → fail → environment
Some of my colleagues defend EDI requirements as little more than a reasonable request for a management philosophy.
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Some → defend → philosophy
Accordingly, I gave NSERC the benefit of the doubt and wrote my application under this milder reading, which allowed me to comply without pretending to believe things I do not.
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I → give → things
While making clear I objected to discriminatory EDI quotas, I proposed an intellectually open lab that welcomes people of diverse political views.
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that → make → views
I reasoned that science best flourishes when we recruit from the widest possible swathe of society, including the many Canadians who oppose EDI.
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who → reason → EDI
It didn’t work.
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It → work → ?
That’s because in EDI-speak, “diverse” means non-white, women and “2SLGBTQIA+”, while an “inclusive” environment protects progressive sensibilities from offence.
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environment → ’ → offence
A colour-blind lab that welcomes EDI-skeptics fails on both counts.
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that → welcome → counts
The safest path to a research grant is to signal ideological compliance.
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path → signal → compliance
It is unwise to distance yourself from the aspects of EDI you find objectionable.
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you → distance → EDI
A senior university administrator told me as much.
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administrator → tell → much
I need not sincerely agree with EDI, I was told, but I should allow NSERC reviewers to think otherwise.
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reviewers → need → EDI
It is considered pragmatic — responsible, even — to keep one’s lab running, to keep training students and advancing science.
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It → consider → science
But this quiet compliance, where the gate is wide and the way is easy, leads scientists further astray: EDI culture is now normalizing deception.
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culture → lead → deception
I recently attended a workshop on the EDI sections of research grants.
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I → attend → grants
I asked how to handle the large body of empirical evidence against EDI versus the weak and discredited studies in favour of it.
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I → ask → it
We were reminded that, as scientists, we are good at finding statistics to please reviewers.
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we → remind → reviewers
Nobody else in the room seemed bothered.
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Nobody → seem → room
I turned back to my table, and, looking over my laptop, asked the person across from me if they thought this was okay.
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this → turn → me
“Look,” they said, “every country has an ideology.
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country → look → ideology
Canada has chosen this one.
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Canada → choose → one
We just have to live with it.”
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We → have → it
Canada may well have chosen an ideology.
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Canada → choose → ideology
What it should not do is make federal science funding depend on pretending the evidence agrees.
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evidence → make → What
The Aporia
