Time for widespread gender-neutral language in federal policy, legislation, say advocates

Justice Canada has more recently been using ‘they’ as a singular gender-neutral pronoun on a piecemeal basis, but the gendered nature of the French language requires study, with a review currently underway.

The departments headed by Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef and Justice Minister David Lametti say work is being done in a ‘piecemeal’ fashion to add gender-neutral language to Canada’s policies and regulations, the use of which ‘acknowledges and values human diversity.’The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

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BY ALICE CHEN

April 21, 2021

The very act of not being included in government policy is discriminatory, says Estefan Cortes-Vargas, former Alberta MLA, diversity consultant, and one of the first openly non-binary people elected in Canada, referring to the sparse use of gender-neutral language. It's an issue the federal governme...

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