My thoughts exactly, having an aboriginal background myself.  To me these projects undermine what they're trying to accomplish when focusing only on background rather than merit.  I agree with mentorships/tutors prior to application to be competitive for entry into the program, to help the individual succeed, but not to change the entire system system to favour certain groups via quota.  This raises legitimacy issues.  This is something the graduates will have to face and fight every day of their careers as people will question if they truly belong or if they were the token to bump up the numbers.