"Language experts have called out the Canadian prime minister's growing utilisation of British spellings in key documents including the recent federal budget and a press release issued following a meeting with Donald Trump. Carney, who served as the governor of the bank of England for seven years, appears to have run afoul of Canadian linguistic norms, returning to his home country with a penchant for using s' instead of z'- a hallmark of British spellings."
"In an open letter chastising the prime minister, six linguists have asked his office, the Canadian government and parliament to stick to Canadian English spelling, which is the spelling they consistently used from the 1970s to 2025. They warned that if governments start to use other systems for spelling, this could lead to confusion about which spelling is Canadian. Canadian English is a source of immense pride for the nation's pedants."
Prime Minister Mark Carney has increasingly used British spellings in key Canadian government documents, including the federal budget and a press release after a meeting with Donald Trump. Carney's use of s' instead of z' reflects his seven-year tenure as Bank of England governor. Six Canadian linguists wrote an open letter asking government offices to maintain Canadian English spellings, which had been consistently used from the 1970s to 2025. The linguists warned that adopting other spelling systems could create confusion about what constitutes Canadian spelling and erode a source of national pride linked to historical settlement and diverse influences.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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