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. But Duclos told reporters that Service Canada’s policies are a matter of respect. Helen 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. “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. She added Duclos did not see the internal directive before it was circulated Jan. 18.

Source: thestar March 21, 2018 23:48 UTC