Trudeau enters no man’s land with ‘peoplekind’ quip
CANADA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has drawn cheers – and some backlash – after he told a woman to use the word ‘‘peoplekind’’ instead of ‘‘mankind’’.
Trudeau was quickly criticised by conservative media outlets and personalities, who said his political correctness had gone haywire. But others said the comments, which were made during a town hall event, were taken out of context.
The exchange happened last Friday while Trudeau was fielding questions from the audience in Edmonton, Alberta.
The woman, who said she was with the World Mission Society Church of God, first thanked Trudeau, a self-proclaimed feminist, for filling his cabinet seats with women and recognising the ‘‘ability and power that women actually possess’’. She went on to talk about concepts such as ‘‘maternal love’’ and ‘‘God the Mother’’, describing it as ‘‘the love that’s going to change the future of mankind’’.
Trudeau waved his hand to interrupt. ‘‘We’d like to say ‘peoplekind,’ not necessarily ‘mankind,’ ‘‘ he said.
Many in the audience cheered, including the woman, whose name is not known.
An editorial by the conservative tabloid Toronto Sun described Trudeau’s response as a form of mansplaining. Fox & Friends aired an entire segment on the exchange, with a guest slamming Trudeau as a ‘‘radical leftist propagandist’’.
But Daniel Dale, Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, said Trudeau’s critics failed to mention the woman and the audience’s positive reaction.
‘‘He was lightly ribbing a woman who was rambling,’’ Dale tweeted.
Vice political columnist Drew Brown posted a full video of the nearly two-hour-long town hall, saying the 22-second clip circulating among conservative outlets did not show the full context of the exchange.
Trudeau has made it his mission to put more women in prominent political and judicial posts.
Half of the 74 judges his government has appointed over the past year are women. His cabinet also has an equal number of men and women. In 2016, he announced that a Canadian woman will be the face of the country’s newest banknotes, which are expected this year.
Last week, Canada’s Senate passed a bill that would make the country’s national anthem genderneutral by changing the phrase ‘‘in all they sons command’’ to ‘‘in all of us command’’.