Indulge me for a moment as I talk my way through a train of thought:

There are some people who are opposed to employment equity.  People have various reasons for being opposed to this policy.  One of the reasons that some people are opposed is that they feel that employment equity is favouring less-qualified candidates from designated groups over more qualified candidates not from designated groups.

It occurs to me that the people who oppose employment equity for this reason might want to keep quiet about it.

Why?  Well, let's start with the premise that since they are opposed to employment equity, their goal is to put an end to the program, so all candidates will be evaluated solely on merit and qualifications with no consideration for designated group status.

So what would it take to make the program end? First and foremost, all parties involved would have to feel that the program has done its job and is no longer necessary. 

How would they decide if the program has done its job?  I think two factors have to be met. 

First of all, the numbers have to work out.  The percentage of members of designated groups within whatever the organization is would have to match their percentages in the general population.  This is complex, there are many factors,  I have many thoughts on this, and it does need to be addressed.  However, it is very big, and it outside the control of people who are opposed to employment equity, and outside the scope of this little logic exercise of mine.

The second factor is that the members of designated groups who are sitting on employment equity committees have to start reporting back that they are not feeling at all disadvantaged or discriminated against because of their designated status.

Now imagine for a moment you are a member of a designated group; let's say you are an Icklibogg.  You worked very hard to get where you are, learned a lot, were always willing to try something new.  Meanwhile, somewhere decided that Ickliboggs are under-represented in your organization and put them on the employment equity list, because there aren't many Ickliboggs in the organization, they rope you into sitting on the employment equity committe. 

Then one day you overhear someone saying, in a very derisive tone, "Oh, they're only where they are because they're an Icklibogg."  You don't know whether they're talking about you or not, but you heard quite clearly what they said.

Later that day, you have to go to an employment equity committee meeting.  The chair asks you "So do you feel that our organization is a positive environment for Ickliboggs?"

Would your answer contribute to the elimination of employment equity?