The topic of equity policies and identity politics in Canada is at the forefront of public and media discussion, and Martin Loney adds fuel to the fire. In The Pursuit of Division he provides a provocative critique of recent government policies with respect to race, gender, and preferential hiring, exposing the suspect methods of so-called progressive thinkers in their pursuit of the politics of difference.

Loney takes issue with popular attitudes toward race and gender, whereby to be born a woman or a member of a visible minority is to enter life at a disadvantage and therefore be entitled to compensatory provision. Arguing that social class not group membership determines life chances, he refutes the claims of those who detect systemic prejudice and discrimination and reap considerable public subsidy in return. From the release of the Abella report to the present, Loney sets the growth of federal involvement in preferential hiring in the context of a growing industry whose success depends on...