Moose keep referring to these people although he did not intend to. It slipped. But I guarantee you it is (these people).
I am way behind in reading this thread but wanted to address this point. Sorry if someone else has pointed this out.
The fact is that Moose has for quite some time said "person or people". Today he used this phrase and was asked by a reporter "why the change". Moose pointed out that he *has* been using that phrase and he was "sorry" the reporter had missed his usage in the past.
Good for Moose and you are incorrect to say he "did not intend to" use the word "people".