Visible Minorities in the Multiracial State: When are Preferential Policies Justifiable?
Dalhousie Law Journal, Vol. 21, p. 92, 1998
25 Pages Posted: 8 Jul 2008
Date Written: 1998
Abstract
This article outlines the circumstances in which the state is justified in implementing preferential policies in favour of visible minorities and describes an approach to policy formulation. The thesis is that visible minorities warrant preferential treatment in order to rectify past injustices and to redistribute advantages to visible minorities who are chronically poor. "Supply-side" over "demand-side" policies are favoured. Supply-side policies are preferable because they support substantive equality by ensuring that individuals have a minimum level of subsistence. If the goal of achieving substantive equality is to be a.chieved, the poor should also be entitled to benefit under preferential policies. Thus, preferential policies should target poor people generally and visible minorities specifically.
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