The Trudeau government is accelerating its war on non-gender inclusive language by insisting a major government department avoid calling people “Mr.” or “Mrs.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau actively promotes gender inclusive language, famously declaring in February that “we say peoplekind” rather than mankind.
The dictate to Service Canada — the bureaucracy that provides everything from employment insurance to temporary foreign workers — also instructs workers to eschew such antiquated terms as “mother” and “father,” language that “can be seen as gender-specific by a client,” says a memo first obtained by CBC News’ French-language branch, Radio Canada.
Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Wednesday the directive was helping the government staff “to adapt to the reality of 21st-century families.”
The order was given to Service Canada employees this January, who were instructed to use gender inclusive words that won’t betray “a perceived bias toward a particular sex or gender.”
Official Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer called the language fussiness “ridiculous.”
In a tweet, since retracted, Duclos informs the public: “In order to meet the expectations of its clientele, Service Canada has made some adjustments that allow the public to confirm how they wish to be addressed by Service Canada, to adapt to the reality of the 21st century.”
The Toronto Sun editorialized that,“these rules go beyond accommodation. What’s next? Federal legislation outlawing Mother’s Day? Stiff new penalties for retailers that put up Father’s Day displays in stores?”