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Vancouver councillor seeks change to 'he' and 'his' pronouns used in charter

Pete Fry has made a specific appeal to Mayor Kennedy Stewart to enact the legislative change: 'Eliminate gendered and patriarchial language'
Sarah Grochowski
pete-fry
Pete Fry is pushing for the use of gender-neutral terms in the Vancouver Charter. (Dan Toulgoet)

Vancouver City Councillor Pete Fry is pushing for the use of more gender-neutral pronouns.

He wants to see a change come to the Vancouver Charter – a 67-year-old provincial statute that details powers granted to the mayor and council.

Fry plans to introduce a motion Oct. 20 to strike the male pronouns used in reference to the mayor and other civic positions, as they “embed a historical patriarchal hierarchy."

The councillor referenced Section 209 of the legislation, which discloses the duties of the mayor:  “If at any time the mayor is absent, or signifies his intention of being absent, from his duties through illness, departure from the city, or other cause, or his seat is vacated, the Council may appoint a councillor to be acting-mayor.”

A push for gender-neutral legislation

Fry is advocating that the charter’s “he” and “his" pronouns be replaced with gender-neutral language.

The city’s previous legislation, the 1886 Vancouver Incorporation Act, which was repealed in the early 1900s, forbade women from sitting as mayor.

It also ruled that "no Chinaman, Japanese, or Indian shall be entitled to vote at any municipal election for the election of a mayor."

Fry is urging Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart to write the Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and requesting the language be amended.