It was used in the recent budget documents.
> Canadian English has been the standard in government communications for decades. But eagle-eyed linguists and editors have spotted British spellings — like "globalisation" and "catalyse" — in documents from the Carney government, including the budget.
Apparently it was acceptable to use s or z in words like catalyse or analyze in British English until Microsoft Word came out with a British English spellchecker that picked the s spelling as its standard. Whether this is just myth or fact seems to be a point of controversy.
The entire world has already wasted enough calories on caring about this.
So "colour" and "centre" are ok but "catalyse" is where the line is drawn?
What are the most notable differences between Canadian and American English?
My pearls, they are clutched!
I should clarify.
My assumption is that any instances of British spelling in the document(s) were accidental.
The petition, otoh, implies that Carney's office has adopted a policy of using British spelling.
The 'new policy' explanation is more surprising than mine.
It makes a difference.
If the conventional explanation is the right one, then this fuss is over a few minor spelling mistakes, as opposed to Carney exercising poor judgment.