News Release

VANCOUVER -- The modern plain language revolution is now over 30 years old, but organizations like the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) are breathing new life into its strategic objective of making information direct and understandable to all securities market participants, including investors.

Wordsmith Associates, an Edmonton company with instructors in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, has worked with the BCSC to develop an impressive, comprehensive plain language plan. The goal is to make complicated information about securities understandable to readers—an aim that seems particularly desirable in light of post-Enron demands for plain language in the financial field more generally.

Wordsmith trained all BCSC employees, including the chair, vice chairs, commissioners, lawyers, accountants, and IT, communications, and office staff. The plan also included writing a BCSC Plain Language Style Guide (available on its public website www.bcsc.bc.ca), training plain language mentors (1 for every 20 employees), creating a plain language staff website and changing frequently issued documents, templates, and web-based documents. A plain language audit and refresher course are to come.

BCSC’s plain language strategy has acted as a catalyst for other securities commissions. Wordsmith has now conducted workshops for the Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario Securities Commissions. In each case, commission chairs attended. Training continues with the OSC this year.

The Office of the Auditor General of Alberta (OAG) is another organization taking plain language training seriously. Two years ago, Wordsmith trained most of their staff and the OAG then hired a plain language adviser on a part-time basis. Changes in the 2001 Report of the Auditor General include the use of active voice in all recommendations. “We recommend . . .” replaced the traditional and anonymous passive syntax, “ It is recommended . . .”. The Auditor General’s Office is standing behind its words! This year, work begins on the OAG’s Plain Language Writing Guide and more widespread plain language changes to their annual report.

Wordsmith Associates has been helping organizations of all kinds write more effectively and plainly for the last 22 years. The company has trained staff in securities commissions across Canada, as well as in corporations, non-profit organizations, and 12 Alberta government departments.

The movement itself has grown world wide, with accompanying research to bolster its credibility and practice. In Canada, plain language will be in the spotlight in September 26-29, 2002, as Plain Language Association International (PLAIN) hosts an international conference in Toronto for 275 participants. The conference name is At the Heart of Communication: Across Disciplines and Around the World. Nine countries and 50 speakers will be represented. For information on the conference, see www.plainlanguagenetwork.org

Attachments available on request fromcmowat@wordsmithassociates.com
Backgrounder on PLAIN’s Conference
BCSC’s Plain Language Plan
Examples of Plain Language Re-writes
Representative List of International Plain Language Projects
Myths about Plain Language
Quotations from post-Enron News Articles Calling for Plain English


Contacts:

Christine Mowat (780) 439-0281
Chair, PLAIN Steering Committee
President, Wordsmith Associates
cmowat@wordsmithassociates.com
www.wordsmithassociates.com

Joyce Maykut Q.C. (604) 899-6556
Vice-Chair, BCSC

Merwan Saher
Assistant Auditor General (780) 422-6195
Office of the Auditor General of Alberta