Today a call is placed to the city of Toronto’s “client services” department and, after a very long time on hold, a booking can be made if available and the fees paid. Lawyers have clients, my hairdresser refers to his clients, and customers at shops and restaurants are often called clients. Use of the word client, like many words, is fluid, but there’s something profoundly insidious about calling residents of a city, people who are the heart of the city itself, clients. Referring to city citizens as clients also implies that there’s a business-style feedback mechanism where if the service is not good the business will be compelled to improve itself. Government is not a business and citizens are not clients.

Source: thestar June 13, 2022 05:00 UTC