Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau interrupted a woman asking him a question, at an event he held last week, telling her not to use the term ‘mankind’ but that she should use the ‘more inclusive’ term ‘peoplekind.’
During the question and answer session at MacEwan University, the young woman asked about Canada’s policies governing religious charitable organizations.
"So, that’s why we came here today to ask you," she said, "to also look into the policies that religious charitable organizations have in our legislation so that it can also be changed because maternal love is the love that’s going to change the future of mankind—"
"We like to say ‘peoplekind,' not necessarily ‘mankind,' because it’s more inclusive," Trudeau interrupted.
The woman and the rest of the crowd applauded Trudeau’s statement.
The Canadian leader was roundly mocked on Twitter over the incident.
The big thing about Trudeau's #peoplekind comment is that it's not a word. It's not in any dictionary. The man is so painfully politically correct he literally invented a new word just to chew out some woman. But I guess it was also her fault for asking him a question.
— J.J. McCullough (@JJ_McCullough) February 6, 2018
Always reluctant to call a Canadian Prime Minister stupid. Will just say #Trudeau’s insistence that Cdns use the term #peoplekind is daft.
— Charles Adler (@charlesadler) February 6, 2018
Urban Dictionary quick to be updated in the wake of Justin Trudeau's mansplaining, manterruption, #peoplekind gaffe. pic.twitter.com/8HTy7nMAmx
— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) February 6, 2018
Canada has recently been prioritizing a shift to gender-neutral language. In a push praised by Trudeau and “The Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood, the Canadian Senate passed a bill last week to make Canada’s national anthem gender-neutral.