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<div class="gmail-small-12 gmail-inset gmail-columns gmail-center"><div class="gmail-row"><div><header class="gmail-article__header"><h1 class="gmail-article__headline">Critics mock Service Canada’s move to gender-neutral language</h1><div class="gmail-article__subheadline"><p>Service
Canada employees are asked to use gender-neutral or gender-inclusive
language to avoid “portraying a perceived bias toward a particular sex
or gender.”</p></div></header></div></div><div class="gmail-hero"><figure class="gmail-image"><div class="gmail-image__body gmail-container-gutters gmail-white-background"><img src="https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/canada/2018/03/21/critics-mock-service-canadas-move-to-gender-neutral-language/families_minister_jean_yves_duclos.jpg.size.custom.crop.841x650.jpg" alt="Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jean-Yves Duclos defended Service Canada’s directive on Wednesday, saying it was a matter of respect and an effort “to adapt to the reality of 21st-century families.”"></div><figcaption>Minister
of Families, Children and Social Development Jean-Yves Duclos defended
Service Canada’s directive on Wednesday, saying it was a matter of
respect and an effort “to adapt to the reality of 21st-century
families.”<span class="gmail-image__credit"> (<span class="gmail-image__credit__source">Justin Tang<span> / </span>THE CANADIAN PRESS file photo</span>)</span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-small-12 gmail-inset gmail-columns"><div class="gmail-article__body gmail-clearfix gmail-article-story-body"><div class="gmail-alpha gmail-alpha--big-box gmail-show-for-medium-up"><div class="gmail-seo-media-query"><div id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-large-news-canada-3" style="min-width:300px;min-height:250px"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/58580620/thestar.com/news/canada_2__container__" style="border:0pt none;display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-show-right-rail"><div class="gmail-article__meta"><div class="gmail-inset"><div class="gmail-article__byline"><span>By </span><span class="gmail-article__author"><span><span class="gmail-article__author-name">Morgan Lowrie</span></span><span><span class="gmail-article__author-credit">The Canadian Press</span></span></span></div><div class="gmail-article__published-date">Wed., March 21, 2018</div></div><div class="gmail-clearfix gmail-share-toolbar"><div class="gmail-share-toolbar__body" style=""><div class="gmail-clearfix gmail-sticky-replace gmail-sticky-replace--inset"><div class="gmail-sticky-replace__body"><ul class="gmail-share-toolbar__primary gmail-clearfix"><li><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/03/21/critics-mock-service-canadas-move-to-gender-neutral-language.html#" title="Share on Facebook"><span class="gmail-staricon gmail-staricon-facebook"></span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/03/21/critics-mock-service-canadas-move-to-gender-neutral-language.html#" title="Share on Twitter"><span class="gmail-staricon gmail-staricon-twitter"></span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/03/21/critics-mock-service-canadas-move-to-gender-neutral-language.html#" title="Share with email"><span class="gmail-staricon gmail-staricon-email-outlined"></span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/03/21/critics-mock-service-canadas-move-to-gender-neutral-language.html#" title="More share options" class="gmail-share-toolbar-more"><span class="gmail-staricon gmail-staricon-more-dots"></span></a></li></ul></div></div><div style="height:62px;width:332.5px;margin:0px;border-spacing:0px;border:0px none;padding:0px;font-size:1em;float:none"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-trackContent-0"><p>MONTREAL—Canadian
activists praised Service Canada’s decision to ask its employees to
adopt gender-neutral language when interacting with the public as a step
toward greater inclusivity, while members of the political opposition
mocked the policy mercilessly.</p><p>Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos
defended the federal institution’s internal directive Wednesday, saying
it was a matter of respect and an effort “to adapt to the reality of
21st-century families.”</p><p>According to the directive issued to
managers and team leaders in January, Service Canada employees are asked
to use gender-neutral or gender-inclusive language to avoid “portraying
a perceived bias toward a particular sex or gender.”</p><p>Workers are
instructed to use a client’s full name or ask how they would prefer to
be addressed instead of using honorifics such as Mr., Mrs. or Ms., which
“can be seen as gender specific by a client,” reads the memo, which was
first obtained by Radio-Canada.</p><p>They are also being asked to eschew the terms “father” and “mother” in favour of “parent.”</p></div><div class="gmail-trackContent-2"><p>Some
members of the opposition were quick to criticize the directive,
including Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who described it as
“ridiculous.”</p><p>Rheal Fortin, the former Bloc Québécois MP who now sits as an Independent, concurred, saying, “it’s bordering on hare-brained.”</p><p>“I almost want to say I’m glad they don’t have any bigger problems than that at Service Canada,” he joked.</p></div><div class="gmail-seo-media-query"><div class="gmail-article-related"><div class="gmail-article-related__body"><div class="gmail-inset"><div class="gmail-article-related__layout-alpha"><div class="gmail-article-related__alpha"><div class="gmail-big-box"><div class="gmail-seo-media-query"><div id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-large-news-canada-16" style="min-width:300px;min-height:250px"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/58580620/thestar.com/news/canada_15__container__" style="border:0pt none;display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-article-related__related"><div class="gmail-article-related__layout-alpha"><div class="gmail-article-related__related"><h4 class="gmail-article-related__heading gmail-show-for-medium-up">You might be interested in</h4><ul><li><div class="gmail-story gmail-small-story--list gmail-medium-story--small gmail-large-story--small"><div class="gmail-story__image"><span><span><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/03/22/new-progress-toronto-political-group-plans-to-shake-up-the-status-quo-at-city-hall"><img src="https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/gta/2018/03/22/new-progress-toronto-political-group-plans-to-shake-up-the-status-quo-at-city-hall/michal_hay.jpg.size.custom.crop.274x154.jpg" alt="Michal Hay, front, is helping launch Progress Toronto, a political organization with plans to influence decision-making at city hall through organized community activism and also advocate for progressive candidates in the Oct. 22 municipal election. 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Kennedy, executive director of national LGBTQ human rights organization
Egale Canada, praised the directive as “a good first step” but said it
needs to be accompanied with more awareness training and education
around non-binary and gender-neutral language.</p><p>“Some people may be
very well-intentioned but they may not have the understanding or
knowledge that they need in order to ask the right question in a manner
that’s not going to be offensive,” she said in a phone interview.</p><p>The backlash from the opposition is a sign of how far Canadian society still has to come when it comes to inclusion, she said.</p><p>“Issues
around gender-neutral language are extremely important, and they may
not be important to the opposition but I can tell you they’re very
important to members of our community,” Kennedy said.</p><p>Gabrielle
Bouchard, the first transgender president of Quebec’s main women’s
federation, called the move a step toward “making sure all Canadians can
start an interaction with civil servants in the right way.”</p><p>In a
phone interview, she said neither she nor the policy were advocating for
an end to the use of gendered pronouns, noting that some transgender
people prefer to use “Mr.” or “Ms.” as a way of reaffirming their
gender.</p><p>“What we want isn’t the elimination of choice, what we want is to add more choice,” she said.</p><p>Duclos’
press secretary, Emilie Gauduchon-Campbell, said the directive was
issued in response to requests from members of the public who criticized
Service Canada for a lack of inclusivity, including same-sex parents
who complained about the mother/father designation.</p><p>She added Duclos did not see the internal directive before it was circulated Jan. 18.</p><p>Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau declined to respond Wednesday morning to the
initial Radio-Canada report, saying he needed more time to look into the
matter.</p></div></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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