The British Columbia government has removed 750 “outdated gender-based” terms from provincial regulations this year.
According to the Toronto Sun, a majority of the terms wiped from official vocabulary include the words “he,” “she,” “himself” and “herself”.
The words “father,” “son” and “aunt” were also reportedly erased in some places. The changes were part of the Better Regulations for British Columbians initiative.
“Using inclusive language wherever we can doesn’t just remove barriers to services, it also protects people’s rights,” wrote parliamentary secretary for gender equity Grace Lore.
“It’s a way for government to make life a bit easier for the thousands of British Columbians who face unnecessary barriers due to outdated language and to help address gender bias.”
This is not the first time that the B.C. government has moved to revise language use to be more politically correct.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) released a “coronavirus language guide” in 2020 advising Canadians to avoid using terms like “men and women.”
“The phrase ‘men and women’ excludes non-binary people, and it is unclear whether it includes trans men and women. And ‘guys’ is not gender inclusive – people, everyone, folks, or folx are gender-neutral and thereby inclusive,” wrote the BCCDC.
It also warned Canadians to “avoid terms like penis or vagina” and instead say “internal genitals” and “external genitals.”
When referring to pregnancy, the BCCDC said that “pregnant person” would be more inclusive than “pregnant woman” and recommended people refer to breastfeeding as “chestfeeding.”
Politically correct – or “woke” – language has also spread to the federal government.
Last year, Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam urged “pregnant and breastfeeding people” to get vaccinated against COVID-19 instead of simply referring to those people as women.
“While Canada has achieved great success in vaccinating a significant proportion of our population against COVID-19, some groups lag behind in uptake. One key group that appears to have lower uptake of COVID-19 vaccines is people who are pregnant,” wrote Dr. Tam.
“…research shows that breastmilk of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 have antibodies, which may provide some protection.
