Canada’s new language for the world

In an attempt, apparently, to differentiate itself from its Liberal predecessors, sources tell Embassy that the Conservative government has been trying to change the language used by Foreign Affairs bureaucrats, putting its own spin on the ideals for which this country stands. Out are words and phrases like "human security" and "good governance." In are "human rights," "the rule of law" and "democracy." "There are phrases you are not supposed to use," says one diplomat. "Anything that smacks of the previous government is totally verboten. There is this tendency, almost like a knee-jerk reaction, to discount or ignore or change whatever it is the Liberals did and let’s put a new Conservative face on it."

Embassy