Wednesday 31 August 2011

Bonnie Crombie's Capitalization Issues

I don't understand how professional politicians and their teams make spelling and grammatical errors in their campaign literature. I think nothing broadcasts, "I don't pay close attention to details, nor does my staff" like a grammatical mistake.

Spelling errors in the era of spell-checkers just signals incompetence. But maybe only teachers like me care?
Warren Kinsella flagged some flubs by Tim Hudak's campaign here.
(Note: I deny responsibility if any of my former students were responsible for Hudak's errors).

Now, I'll admit I'm not the most detailed-oriented guy, and my wife reminds me almost daily that my grammar is far from perfect, but if candidates are not going to pay close attention to how they communicate here in Mississauga, then this blog will!

Now, I'll admit that failing to capitalize words is less egregious than misspelling "bureaucracy" or "education".  But, who fails to capitalize street names? Bonnie Crombie! 
Twice in the same "10 Point Plan for Ward 5" (see screenshot below).

Mysteriously, a capital H also disappeared from "Malton Community Health Centre," and I'm befuddled by multiple mistakes in her description of Britannia Farm (capital B, capital F, not "Brittania farms").

Finally, look at item #8. Either that line contains two items (hey, its an eleven point plan!), or there is a grammatical mistake.

I'm not sure because I'm too distracted by #4. Number 4 is kosher, but would really read much better if Ms. Crombie would "prioritize affordable housing." I wonder if she was concerned that she should really "prioritise affordable housing," but was unsure which spelling of the verb was correct in Canada. I'm an American, so I wasn't sure, but the internet (Luke Mastin) says it should be a zed in Canada.


No comments:

Post a Comment