Category: Freelancing

The plain language movement in Canada, 1980–1995: Interview with Christine Mowat

This is a near-verbatim transcript of a phone interview I did with Christine Mowat on September 6, 2019. She joined the call from her home in Edmonton, AB, and I was in Metro Vancouver. This interview is part of my project to compile an oral history of the plain language movement in Canada between 1980 and 1995.

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IC: All right, so thank you once again, Christine, for agreeing to talk to me. I wanted to find out more about the plain language movement in Canada, because I just figured there isn’t all that much information out there.

As I mentioned, Karen Schriver’s done quite a bit of work on the American side, and I know that circumstances in Canada were a bit different, and I’m just curious to know from people who were in the thick of it, how they experienced it.

CM: And did you, by any chance… have you read my books?

IC: I have read one of them, yes. The Plain Language Handbook…

CM: …for Legal Writers?

IC: Yes, yes, that one.

CM: Was it the first edition, or the second?

IC: I don’t remember, I don’t have it with me.

CM: The second edition has two volumes.

IC: OK.

CM: And it came out in 2015.

IC: No, it must have been the earlier edition.

CM: OK.

IC: Yeah. So, I guess I’ll get started with the first question. When did you become involved with the plain language movement, and what inspired you to join?

CM: Well, I think I really started learning about it when I opened my business, Wordsmith Associates Communications Consultants. And I just learned about it, you know, from online, and from learning that people in the United States had been paying attention to it. And when I started Wordsmith, I started conducting writing workshops—just writing. And my range of clients are incredibly diverse [laughs] over the years. Because in the end, I had clients for… I ran the business for 30 years. It is continuing now because one of my instructors bought the business from me. And so next year it will be 40 years old, the business.

But why did I… why was I attracted to the plain language field? Um, it had all to do with enjoying so many things related to it. For example, incorporating plain language’s ethical principles. Continue reading “The plain language movement in Canada, 1980–1995: Interview with Christine Mowat”