4 ms·

By using the pronoun "they", you're implying the same person ("the Canadian government") as the post above. Per your sources, the statement was made by a single

• kelseyfrog 3y ago
  They also could simply not know the gender of the officer. There are many reasons beyond even these.
  • SECProto 3y ago
    Grammatically, pronouns are used when it's already clear who is being described. In this thread, the Government of Canada was the only body mentioned. Using "they" to refer to a singular officer who had before then not been referenced would not be grammatically clear.
• philwelch 3y ago
  It wasn’t just an individual police officer speaking for himself; he was speaking to the public in his official capacity at a town hall. The department walked back the statement after all the negative press came out but it was very much an official statement when it was made. And yes, I’m aware that even the Toronto police department doesn’t represent the entire Canadian government, but the word “they” can be used much more broadly and vaguely than you’re suggesting. For instance, there are widespread reports of human cannibalism committed by Haitian gangsters following the most recent collapse of the most recent Haitian government; one might colloquially say “they’re eating people in Haiti” to indicate that there is cannibalism going own without ever precisely specifying who is committing the cannibalism.