"Go Habs Go: Quebec language watchdog now says it's OK to use 'go' to support sports teams
The page notes how the anglicism 'go' has been used in Quebec since at least the 1980s and is 'well-established' in common parlance. 'It is considered to be partially legitimized,' the entry says.
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When asked by The Canadian Press to comment on the newly released email correspondence, the watchdog confirmed it had updated its position.
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'The office now considers that a public body can use the interjection go in a context of encouragement … without this compromising the duty of exemplarity incumbent upon it under the Charter of the French Language,' spokesperson Gilles Payer told The Canadian Press in an email.
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Payer confirmed the entry was newly published on May 30. 'The media coverage of the case concerning the use of the borrowed word 'go' in a sports context led the office to officially assess the acceptability' of the word, he said.
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Melancon, the French literature professor, said the new rationale — especially the term 'partially legitimized' — suggests the office was uneasy with the change.
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'This must have given rise to some pretty intense internal debates,' he said. ''Do we take into account what the minister is telling us or do we not take it into account? If we don't take it into account, what are the consequences? If we do, how do we justify changing our minds?''
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At least one transit agency official felt dubious about the original complaint, which related to a bus displaying the words 'Go! CF Mtl Go!' in support of Montreal's professional soccer club. She called the issue a 'grey zone' in a June 2024 email to colleagues.
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'We've been using the word 'go' for years without a problem,' she wrote. 'Are we going to change everything because of one complaint?'
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But by later that month, the agency had decided to scrap the word, which involved manually updating the display on each of more than 1,000 buses over a period of months.
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The agency has said no further change will be made before the buses undergo regular maintenance in the fall.
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The language office has received at least two other complaints about the word 'go' in the last five years, according to a response to a separate access-to-information request.
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In 2023, someone complained about the slogan 'Go Habs Go' appearing on an outdoor billboard. That complaint was dismissed because the expression is a trademark.
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A similar complaint in 2021 targeted the hashtag #GoHabsGo that appears in oversized letters outside the Bell Centre in Montreal, the home arena of the Canadiens.
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The person who filed the complaint suggested that to comply with Quebec's language rules, the expression 'Allez les Habitants allez' should appear alongside the English slogan, in larger letters. 'And yes, I'm serious, if the law applies, then apply it! :)' the person wrote.
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