Once it’s in place, Maple Ridge will have caught up to the federal and provincial governments in requiring gender-neutral language in its bills and documents.
City council approved a resolution by Coun. Kiersten Duncan on Tuesday, calling for the city to use such language, where appropriate.
“This is something that’s really important to me,” Duncan told her colleagues.
It’s already in use at the federal and provincial levels, she added.
The resolution, however, only applies to forthcoming documents or bylaws that will be written in the future and doesn’t mean that staff have to go back and change every city record or bylaw prior to the adoption of gender-neutral language.
Coun. Craig Speirs said he appreciated the motion being brought to council, comparing it to Coun. Corisa Bell’s recent effort that got Maple Ridge designated as a Blue Dot community, an initiative by the David Suzuki Foundation, that says residents of those cities demand to live in a clean environment.