True story:
In 1994, I was an instructor at the RCR Battleschool in Pet, teaching a QL-3 Infantry course. There I had the pleasure of instructing the best candidate I have ever had (and I have instructed on Basic, Junior Leadership, Basic Officer Training Course and RESO over the years). This guy was smart, in both the "book" and "street" sense, was a superb athlete, had natural charisma (the section would follow his lead off duty), and was photogenic to boot. In military slang, this guy was a "streamer", and I could see him moving quickly up the ranks, or taking a commission.
Unfortunately, at the end of the course, the first ever "self identification" survey came out and the troops were required to fill them out. My candidate was extremely upset, and justifiably so; for no matter how good he was, or how much ability or merit he displayed, for the rest of his career, his accomplishments would be discounted as being due to his ethnic background: he was a Cree from Saskatchewan.
I wonder how many people have to struggle with this suspicion planted by the quota system. It is bad enough in peacetime, just imagine if you are wondering about the qualifications of the soldier next to you in a combat situation. Looking the other way, a person who "may" be favored by quotas will know there will always be suspicion directed at their achievements, with someone always ready to say, well, it is just because they are an...