City plain language proposal criticized as not clear enough

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This article was published 29/06/2023 (812 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE City of Winnipeg will consider a new policy to ensure it uses simple language to communicate with residents — though some fear the plan leaves too much room for confusion.

The proposed plain language policy calls for city staff to write communications intended for the public at a Grade 8 reading level, to ensure most residents can understand it.

Staff are instructed to avoid using complex sentences, uncommon words and specialized terms. If an uncommon word or term must be used, the writer would be expected to explain what it means.

If city council approves, the rules would apply to municipal advertisements, presentations, publications, signage, social media, website content and correspondence — though staff recommend it only apply to the executive summary portion of each administrative report.

Coun. Janice Lukes, who has long called for a plain language policy, said entire reports should be subjected to the new rules instead.

“Only the executive summary is what they want to write in plain language. To me, that’s not acceptable because the executive summary often is two paragraphs (out of a multi-page report)… All the staff who write reports, who write on the website, who write on social media, honestly, I think they need to have a guide and some training,” said Lukes.

The Waverley West councillor said she plans to raise a motion to ensure administrative reports are required to use plain language throughout and that a more thorough policy is adopted.

Lukes said the changes are key to ensuring Winnipeggers understand the decisions made by city hall, since these reports often propose recommendations for important council decisions on developments, policies and services.

“We are growing through immigration. We have many, many (residents) where English isn’t the first language. I really want people to be engaged with the city, engaged in democracy. But if they’re having a hard time reading (city reports), that’s not going to happen. I have a hard time deciphering these reports.”

After serving on council since 2014, Lukes said she still sometimes needs staff briefings to understand parts of administrative documents.

“I get some of the… engineering and technical (information should be included)… but there’s no reason why they can’t lay out, in simple English, not only for councillors but for the public… The jargon that we see is incredible,” she said.

Felicia Wiltshire, Winnipeg director of customer service and communications, said the public service strives to offer clear communications, which the policy would formalize.

However, Wiltshire said it would be difficult to ensure entire reports follow the plain language policy, since many must address complicated engineering, financial or legal details.

“There is language they need to use (in some cases), so that’s why we focus on the executive summary, because you should be able to convey the intent of the report and what the report is about in a really clear and concise executive summary.”

She added those summaries should still highlight key issues for the public.

“What we’re trying to guide in the plain language policy is writing to your intended audience… Depending who your audience is, there is going to be a different level of knowledge and understanding,” said Wiltshire.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said he expects to support the call for a plain language policy but has questions about the limited application to reports.

“Making changes to our communications so that more Winnipeggers can understand the communications coming from the City of Winnipeg is really critical to improving the service level that we’re providing to citizens,” said Gillingham.

Council’s executive policy committee is expected to vote on the policy July 5.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga