“We can confirm that this message was not issued by Shared Services Canada and does not reflect department policy.”
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The Trudeau administration says a memo circulating on social media telling public servants to stop using a code phrase to scold Joe Biden is false.
An image of the hoax memo, dated October 14, 2021, cautions employees not to use unapproved and offensive words in email signatures, specifically warning not to use the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon.”
“Let’s Go Brandon” burst onto the American political scene two weeks ago when NASCAR fans began yelling “F *** Joe Biden” while race winner Brandon Brown was being interviewed. The interviewer stated that the crowd was chanting “Let’s Go Brandon” and the phrase was born.
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Since then, the phrase has appeared in Tshirts and other paraphernalia, has been used as a code to scold the president, and is found in a rap song appearing at the top of iTunes charts, according to some sites.
One thing the phrase has not resulted in is in a memorandum from the federal government of Canada to its workers.
“We can confirm that this message was not issued by Shared Services Canada and does not reflect department policy,” a department spokesperson said by email.
The image has been shared, liked and retweeted thousands of times on social media platforms, but there were some signs that the note was fake.
The text shared online, claiming to be from the government, said there would be “zero tolerance” for violating this policy and that the policy is “fully supported by the leadership of the PSAC.” The Public Service Alliance of Canada, commonly known as PSAC, is the largest public sector union in the federal government, but it is not the only one. It would be strange if a memo, supposedly sent to all employees, cited PSAC’s support to explain a government directive.
“Violation of this policy will be grounds for immediate dismissal without recourse or labor representation,” said the false memorandum at the end.
Getting fired from federal public service is indeed a very difficult thing to do and unions have been known to fight layoffs or even disciplinary action for years for more serious issues than a fun, albeit offensive, email signature line.
Reference-torontosun.com