Canadian Army bans use of male and female pronouns

The Canadian Army will no longer use male or female pronouns in formal performance appraisals, according to new military guidelines.

Army instructions state that members of the military have been ordered to stop using “he” and “she” and instead say “they” and “them.”

In 2017, Canada introduced a controversial law, Bill C-16, which could be used to compel citizens to use the terms ‘ze’ and ‘zir’, instead of ‘he’ and ‘she’.

‘Madness’

The Canadian Forces General Message states that because of the recent shift “to promote gender diversity and associated inclusiveness”, male and female pronouns “are not to be used” when drafting appraisals.

Derek Sloan, a Member of Parliament in Ontario, called the new requirement “absolute madness”.

He noted that military staff won’t be allowed to write ‘he’ or ‘she’ “even if one of those is an individual’s preferred pronoun”.

It is unclear if disciplinary action will be taken against staff who refuse to use gender-neutral pronouns.

Compelled speech

Canadian academic Jordan Peterson has previously labelled Bill C-16 as “compelled speech”.

In a presentation at Ontario University in 2018, Dr Peterson ridiculed the law for using the term ‘gender spectrum’.

“I don’t know what that means and I don’t believe that the people who wrote it know what it means either.”

He warned the students against being dragged into adopting the terminology of those in the “identity politics game”.