【Employmentpracticesoftenreflecttheneedsofemployersseveraldecadesago．Timeshavechanged．AndsotoohastheCanadianworkforce．Yetmanyemploymentpracticeshavenotkeptpacewiththischange．Forexample,someworkenvironments】

　　Employmentpracticesoftenreflecttheneedsofemployersseveraldecadesago．Timeshavechanged．AndsotoohastheCanadianworkforce．Yetmanyemploymentpracticeshavenotkeptpacewiththischange．Forexample,someworkenvironmentsandwashroomsdesignedforable-bodiedworkersseldomaccommodatepeoplewhouseawheelchair．

　　Modernizingthesepracticesiswhatemploymentequalityisabout．Forexample,makingsureworkbenchesandwashroomsareadaptedfordisabledpeopleenteringtheworkplacepavesthewayforworkerswhobecomedisabledonthejob．Bydoingso,anygivengroupofpeople?formerlydiscriminatedagainst-nowhasaccesstobetteremploymentopportunities．

　　Theobjective,ofcourse,istomaketheworkplacereflectCanadiansociety．However,thisdoesnotnecessarilymeansettingandenforcingquotas(实行配额）.Rather,itmeansidentifyingthebarrierstoemploymentanddesigningmeasures,withachievablegoalsandcleartimetables,toremovethem．

　　Forexample,accordingtotheCanadianUnionofPublicEmployees-Canada’slargestunion,itwouldbeunrealisticintheshorttermtoinsistthatbecausehalfoftheworkingagepopulationiswomen,thathalfoftheemployeesofanengineeringfirmshouldbewomen．Atthismoment,therewouldnotbeenoughqualifiedfemaleengineers．

　　Areasonablenumericalgoalwouldbebasedonthenumberofwomenwhoactuallyareengineers（8%）andthosewhoarestudyingtobecomeengineers（25%）．Ashorttermgoalof13%wouldbeappropriatewithoutrunningtheriskofhiringunqualifiedpeople．

　　Equallyimportantistoensurepeoplewhohavebeendisadvantagedthechancetobecomequalifiedfornewopportunities．Ifaboriginalpeople（土著居民）,forexample,can’tqualifyforcertainjobsbecausetheyhaven’thadaccesstoappropriateeducationalopportunities,thenanemploymentequalityprogramwouldhavetoaddressthatproblemwithtrainingprograms.

　　EmploymentlawsinthiscountrycannotbeconsidereddispleasingiftheyguaranteeallCanadiansfairandequalaccesstotheworkforce.

　　小题1:Thepassageismainlyabouthowto____.A．modernizeequipmentforthedisabledatworkB．achieveequalityofemploymentopportunitiesC．protectwomen’sri