Elon Musk questions UBC hiring practices

Billionaire Elon Musk is questioning diversity and inclusion hiring practices, using the social media platform he owns to criticize a job posting from the University of British Columbia.

The Tesla and SpaceX owner chimed in in response to a post for a research chair position in the Faculty of Dentistry that was shared by someone mocking the fact that candidates would be restricted to those from equity-seeking groups – including women and Indigenous people – at the expense of candidates who are “white heterosexual males.”

“Is this legal in Canada?” Musk asked.

Turns out, it is.

The position is federally funded through the Canada Research Chair program, which a spokesperson for UBC explains “identifies population-based targets for federally designated groups.” Canada’s Human Rights Code specially allows for hiring programs that “target historically underrepresented groups.”

Explaining further, employment lawyer Daniel Lublin told CTV News that the diversity provisions in the hiring process for this position are not only legal – but federally mandated.

“Mr. Musk really has no clue what he’s talking about as it relates to Canadian law. He has no idea whatsoever,” he said.