Thank you.
We have finished the third round. I wouldn't mind asking a quick question, if that's okay.
Absolutely, we agree that words are important. Right now in my own media there is this furious debate going on in terms of the decision of one school board in the province of B.C. to rename the winter holiday the Christmas holiday. As I say, the debate is sort of big and furious, with all the connotations around whether it's right or wrong....
I think when you live, sleep, and breathe a certain sort of international standard and language, you have this expectation around what the language is and what the proper language is. For example, if I were in my constituency and talked about gender equity, a lot of people would be much more comfortable and familiar with and would understand the concept of equality between women and men. It would be easy for them to understand, whereas if I started to talk about gender equity, some of them would think I wasn't talking in a way that made sense.
So it depends on where you're delivering a speech. My constituents would understand the concept of equality between women and men if I were delivering a speech in my riding. Do you believe I should use the term “gender equity” all the time to start to shift the norm and the concept within that riding? Or should I use language that the people would be more likely to understand? I guess that's my question.