Woke Government looses all legitimacy
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2025 10:45 am
Gender-inclusive Language
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Introduction
Most legislative provisions are meant to apply broadly to all persons or to specific classes of persons without distinction based on sex, gender identity or gender expression. The traditional practice for Canadian legislative drafting in English was to apply the default masculine rule when referring to persons, which meant that words that ostensibly refer to men only – such as “fireman” or the pronoun “he” – were used to refer collectively to persons of any gender.Footnote1 Over time, the default masculine rule has given way to drafting practices that limit the use of words marked for gender to contexts in which their use reflects the legislative intention, which helps ensure that legislative provisions use language that is inclusive of the diverse readers to whom they may apply. A gender-inclusive approach to legislative drafting is also consistent with the values of equality recognized, for example, in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as with government policies that seek to promote gender equalityFootnote2 and the drafting conventions of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada.Footnote3
This article sets out recommended techniques for gender-inclusive legislative drafting in English and provides some historical background on gender in English legislative language. It also includes many examples of the recommended techniques in use and describes their potential pitfalls.
(See the article Rédaction législative inclusive in the Guide fédéral de jurilinguistique législative française for recommended techniques in French.)
Legistics - Gender-inclusive Language
Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page
Introduction
Most legislative provisions are meant to apply broadly to all persons or to specific classes of persons without distinction based on sex, gender identity or gender expression. The traditional practice for Canadian legislative drafting in English was to apply the default masculine rule when referring to persons, which meant that words that ostensibly refer to men only – such as “fireman” or the pronoun “he” – were used to refer collectively to persons of any gender.Footnote1 Over time, the default masculine rule has given way to drafting practices that limit the use of words marked for gender to contexts in which their use reflects the legislative intention, which helps ensure that legislative provisions use language that is inclusive of the diverse readers to whom they may apply. A gender-inclusive approach to legislative drafting is also consistent with the values of equality recognized, for example, in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as with government policies that seek to promote gender equalityFootnote2 and the drafting conventions of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada.Footnote3
This article sets out recommended techniques for gender-inclusive legislative drafting in English and provides some historical background on gender in English legislative language. It also includes many examples of the recommended techniques in use and describes their potential pitfalls.
(See the article Rédaction législative inclusive in the Guide fédéral de jurilinguistique législative française for recommended techniques in French.)
Legistics - Gender-inclusive Language