International Pronouns Day: Using Inclusive Language in the Workplace

October 15, 2021 - Defence Stories

Event date and time: Wednesday, October 20, 2021 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST

Summary

International Pronouns Day is October 20, 2021. This day is about respect, sharing, education and normalizing personal pronouns.

As part of this year’s celebration, the Public Service Pride Network, in partnership with the Federal Youth Network, will host a panel discussion.

Learning objectives or goals

• Share best practices for using inclusive language in the workplace.
• Encourage greater understanding of the realities and experiences of LGBTQ2+ individuals and why pronouns matter.
• Promote dialogue among federal colleagues on ways to create safer spaces and inclusive environments for LGBTQ2+ colleagues.

Targeted audience

• Federal public servants at all levels (bilingual event)

Organized by:

• Public Service Pride Events and Engagement Action Committee in partnership with the Federal Youth Network.

Register now:

Please register at the Zoom registration link (you are now leaving the Government of Canada website). After you register, you will receive an invitation with the link to join the event.

Moderators

Hélène Genest (she, her)

Manager, Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus), Parks Canada

Hélène leads the GBA Plus application at Parks Canada and chairs the LGBTQ2+ network. She is a part-time facilitator at the Canada School of Public Service and Marquette returning officer for Élections Québec. She has successively worked for Crossroads International, the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, Médecins sans frontières and the Canadian Armed Forces. Hélène lives in Montreal with her wife and their two teenagers. She loves biking, reading and following the news.

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Archie Sto (they/them/theirs)

Senior Policy Analyst and GBA Plus Advisor, Public Safety Canada

Archie holds a diploma in Social and Community Work, a BA in Public Governance with a concentration in Critical Criminology, and a MA in Public Policy with a designated concentration in Indigenous Administration.

Their primary focus in their work is employing an intersectional, anti-racist lens to the development and operation of socio-economic policy, and contributing to a more diverse and inclusive policies and culture in the workplace. Archie carries with them the lived experiences that come with being a landed immigrant, learning English as a second language, and growing up and living as a queer, non-binary, AFAB gender-nonconforming person in community, educational settings and the workplace.

Panelists

Chantal Turcotte (she, her)

Communications Director, Linguistic Services, Women and Gender Equality Canada

Chantal Turcotte has more than 30 years of experience in community journalism, writing, communications and language services.

Recognizing the transformative power of words, she works to promote the adoption of inclusive language in the public service. She co-chairs the Interdepartmental Terminology Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the inclusive writing committee.

Chantal joined Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) three years ago, while her child confided in her that she had a deep sense of being female. Her child has since identified herself as transgender and her pronouns are elle/she/her. Chantal’s personal and professional lives are now intertwined and enriched by one another.

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Dr. Holly Ellingwood (he, him)

Lead Departmental Strategist of the Diversity and Inclusion Secretariat for Public Safety Canada

Dr. Holly Ellingwood brings a holistic approach to conversations on pronouns as a person with lived experience as a person that is gender diverse, and in their work as Lead of the Diversity and Inclusion Secretariat for Public Safety. They also have degrees in psychology and law with an emphasis on social justice that helps to inform these conversations about the importance of language and gender identity and expression.

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Kirk/Kaiya Hamilton

Community Advisor, Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion, Infrastructure Canada

After coming out at work as genderfluid, a man and a woman, I have experienced situations where I have been told to “keep your gender issues at home; they have no place at work.”

I have often been told I should use gender neutral pronouns like “they and them” to make it easier for people to properly gender me. I am a fierce advocate for creating spaces where people can come to work as their whole selves without fear or repercussions.

Working with the Public Service Pride Network Action Committee on Policy, I work with various departments on the subject of pronouns and how they can be beneficial or create harm and how we can balance those perspectives.

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Zak Dezainde-Dubuc

Automotive Defect Investigator, Transport Canada

I have been involved in Transport Canada’s Positive Space initiative since 2020 and have been leading Positive Space awareness sessions since 2021.

I recently removed my pronouns from my email signature at work because I am questioning my gender identity. I found this to be an important element in our signature to provide an inclusive space for my colleagues, but my internal questioning made me feel uncomfortable when sending emails. Since my first language is French, my biggest difficulty is finding terminology that matches how I feel.