Latest news with #CharteroftheFrenchLanguage
Montreal Gazette
04-07-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Language complaints soar in Quebec as English service eclipses concerns about signs
Quebec News By Quebec just recorded a historic high in language complaints, exceeding 10,000 and tripling the total from 10 years ago. Despite Premier François Legault's new focus on English storefront signs, complaints about signage have plummeted, while those about language in customer service have risen sharply, a Gazette analysis shows. In 2024-25, 10,371 complaints were filed, a 14 per cent jump over the previous year, according to recent statistics from the Office québécois de la langue française. A decade ago, the language watchdog received 3,159 complaints. The OQLF's latest figures cover April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, with complaints alleging violations of the Charter of the French Language, commonly known as Bill 101. By far the largest category of complaints — 40 per cent — concerned language of service. A decade ago, only 18 per cent of complaints addressed this issue. Under the charter, 'consumers of goods and services have a right to be informed and served in French.' The OQLF does not provide specifics regarding language-of-service grievances. One high-profile flashpoint, however, has been the bilingual greeting Bonjour-Hi — a sore point for the Legault government, which briefly considered banning the phrase. 'Commercial documentation' was the second-highest source of complaints. At 24 per cent, it was around the same level as 10 years ago. This category includes websites, publications, job applications, invoices and contracts. The language of public and commercial signs was the third-largest topic. Eighteen per cent of submissions targeted signs, down from 31 per cent a decade ago. Seven per cent of reports of non-compliance focused on product packaging, down from 13 per cent. However, complaints about signs and product packaging are expected to rise this year due to new rules that came into effect on June 1, part of the Legault government's effort to reinforce the French language. Under the sign changes, companies with names or trademarks in English or another language must add enough French wording so that French occupies twice the space of the other language. Retailers call the rule onerous and say they had too little time to adapt. Many retailers, both large and small, do not appear to have updated their signs to meet the new requirements. Regarding packaging, under the new measure, 'the generic or descriptive elements of a trademark (such as ingredients, colour, scent or other characteristics of the product) must ... appear in French.' Some music and hobby stores say the packaging rule is unrealistic and will drive them out of business. They say many of their specialized products are available only with English-language labels and suppliers aren't interested in translating them. A majority of 2024–25 complaints — 53 per cent — involved situations in Montreal, home to Quebec's largest concentration of English speakers and immigrants. That percentage represents a low over the past decade. More complainants are targeting the Montérégie and Quebec City regions. Of the complaints filed during the latest period, 36 per cent led to the situation being corrected, while in 25 per cent of cases, the OQLF offered proactive guidance to the subject of the complaint. Another 22 per cent of complaints were deemed unfounded or inadmissible. Since January 2024, Quebec courts have imposed $12,000 in fines on six businesses found guilty of language law violations, the OQLF says. Last year, a Gazette analysis found that complaints about alleged language law violations have rocketed since the Legault government began allowing anonymous grievances and protection for whistleblowers. Anonymity became an option in 2022 after the National Assembly passed Bill 96, the Coalition Avenir Québec government's extensive overhaul of the language charter. Complaints are filed via a form on the OQLF website. A whistleblower who fears reprisals for divulging privileged information can ask that their identity be kept confidential. Under recent changes, a tipster can file a complaint even if they are bound by 'a contract or a duty of loyalty or confidentiality.' Previously, statistics showed the average number of complaints filed per individual. For example, in Montreal during 2021-22, complainants filed 2.7 complaints on average. This calculation is no longer possible, as the OQLF does not have the addresses for those filing reports anonymously.
Edmonton Journal
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Quebec language watchdog says it's OK to use 'Go' to support sports teams
Article content 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. Article content When asked by The Canadian Press to comment on the newly released email correspondence, the watchdog confirmed it had updated its position. Article content '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. Article content 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. Article content Article content Melancon, the French literature professor, said the new rationale — especially the term 'partially legitimized' — suggests the office was uneasy with the change. Article content '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?'' Article content 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. Article content 'We've been using the word 'go' for years without a problem,' she wrote. 'Are we going to change everything because of one complaint?' Article content 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. Article content Article content The agency has said no further change will be made before the buses undergo regular maintenance in the fall. Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content 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.
Edmonton Journal
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
"Go Habs Go: Quebec language watchdog now says it's OK to use 'go' to support sports teams
Article content 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. Article content When asked by The Canadian Press to comment on the newly released email correspondence, the watchdog confirmed it had updated its position. Article content '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. Article content 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. Article content Article content Article content Melancon, the French literature professor, said the new rationale — especially the term 'partially legitimized' — suggests the office was uneasy with the change. Article content '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?'' Article content 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. Article content 'We've been using the word 'go' for years without a problem,' she wrote. 'Are we going to change everything because of one complaint?' Article content 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. Article content Article content The agency has said no further change will be made before the buses undergo regular maintenance in the fall. Article content 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. Article content Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In victory and defeat, Marc Garneau 'was Captain Canada'
OTTAWA — Meili Faille couldn't believe her ears when she heard the news. Marc Garneau, the first Canadian to have visited space, was preparing to run against her in the 2006 election. A few weeks later, she won. And Garneau never forgot it. Twenty years ago, the Bloc Québécois MP at the time held sway in Vaudreuil—Soulanges. This riding, located on the west side of the island of Montreal, near the Ontario border, had elected Faille in 2004 following the sponsorship scandal. In a riding where former NDP Jack Layton grew up, having a separatist represent a bilingual and multicultural community was an odd fit. 'We had an incredible team on the ground. We were dedicated to the community… Honestly, I didn't even count the number of events I attended at the time, it was every single day,' Faille recalled in an interview with National Post. But then, the race was shaken up by then prime minister Paul Martin. Garneau, the then-president of the Canadian Space Agency was not launching his shuttle into space, but rather into the political sphere. 'Marc Garneau, I am convinced, will be a star in the parliamentary firmament,' said Martin at the time. He was not. Faille easily beat him by more than 9,000 votes in 2006, when the Conservatives took power. Garneau was a neophyte who went so far as to predict that the Bloc would disappear, 'like dinosaur,' when he launched his political career. 'Marc Garneau was Canada, Canada, and simply Canada. It was his image. He was a Canadian figure. I mean, in the midst of the sponsorship scandal, it was a no-win situation for him,' Faille said. 'Basically, he was not able to convince people that he could prioritize Quebec positions over federal positions,' she added. 'He was captain Canada.' His relationship with Quebec was not always easy. After 14 years in the House of Commons, he resigned in 2023, before his own government passed Bill C-13, an overhaul of the Official Languages Act, which included references to Quebec's Charter of the French Language, known as Bill 96. He found this inappropriate. Garneau, a francophone, feared that the rights of Quebec's English-speaking minorities were threatened by a conflicting interpretation of federal and provincial laws. 'I've said this was a hill to die on. It is,' Garneau told the Montreal Gazette at the time. It took hours for Quebec Premier François Legault to acknowledge Garneau's death at the age of 76. Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon did not offer his condolences, relaying instead a message from one of his PQ colleagues. Meanwhile, in Ottawa, former colleagues described Garneau as a 'gentleman,' 'very serious,' 'down to earth,' who's reputation was unlike anybody else. 'He was so serious and took everything so seriously, to get him to loosen up a little bit was very difficult. Rarely did he take time to laugh and smile,' said his former liberal colleague MP Judy Sgro. Even Faille was shaken. During his first election in 2008, Garneau ran into Faille, who had just defeated another star candidate: former Conservative senator and cabinet minister Michael Fortier. The two exchanged pleasantries and ended up sitting together in opposition for three years, before Faille lost her seat in 2011. 'He was a good man. Listen, we weren't in the same political family, but we respected each other. Marc was very nice,' said Faille. In 2007, after then leader Stéphane Dion refused to allow Garneau to run in a byelection in Outremont against the NDP's Thomas Mulcair, Garneau left politics. He had previously supported Michael Ignatieff in the leadership race that Dion won and many Liberals suggested at the time that the two men weren't necessarily the best of friends. 'By land or in space, through science and democracy, Marc Garneau has moved Canada and France, Canada and Europe, forward in the same direction. His memory will inspire us in our future endeavours,' Dion, who is now Canada's ambassador to France, wrote on Wednesday night. But the former astronaut ended up running in 2008 in the general election anyway. He was so serious and took everything so seriously, to get him to loosen up a little bit was very difficult Marcel Proulx, then Dion's lieutenant in Quebec, met with Garneau to formalize his candidacy and present himself in a Montreal Liberal stronghold. 'It was a big deal that he would consider a run for us in Westmount-Ville-Marie. A huge deal. Let's not forget that the LPC was not exactly popular in Quebec at the time,' Proulx told the Post. 'Westmount was the perfect riding for him. The riding needed a candidate of his caliber, perfectly bilingual and who cared about its needs and aspiration. And it worked,' he added. The party wanted him to succeed. Marc Roy, a longtime Liberal collaborator from the Chrétien and Martin era, was sent by the party to evaluate the star candidate. 'We needed to help him,' Roy told us. As an astronaut, Garneau gave hundreds of interviews without any problem. In politics, it was different. 'Let's just say he's come a long way, like any politician, but it was a learning curve for him,' said Roy who later went on to become his director of communications and chief of staff while he was minister of Transports. In 2008, Garneau won the election and spent 14 years on the Hill. Roy saw firsthand his boss's dedication and why he would never lose another election. For example, Garneau left Montreal on a Saturday morning by train to visit Marc-Garneau School in Trenton, Ont., and returned home the same day. He also met with the residents of Lac-Mégantic at a very emotional town hall meeting following the 2013 train derailment that destroyed the town. 'He always took the time, no matter the circumstances, to give that small amount of time to answer a question because he recognized the great privilege he had and the duty to give back and share it,' Roy said. Garneau, he said, was an eternal student. He never forgot his first loss in Vaudreuil—Soulanges. It was not a regret. It was a noble experience, he thought. 'No matter the outcome, (all those who run in elections) never lose in such circumstances. Democracy is always well served,' Garneau said in his farewell speech on the floor of the House of Commons. National Post atrepanier@ Marc Garneau, first Canadian in space and former federal minister, dies at 76 In Quebec, opposition mounts against a pipeline project that doesn't exist Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here.
Ottawa Citizen
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
In victory and defeat, Marc Garneau 'was Captain Canada'
OTTAWA — Meili Faille couldn't believe her ears when she heard the news. Marc Garneau, the first Canadian to have visited space, was preparing to run against her in the 2006 election. Article content A few weeks later, she won. And Garneau never forgot it. Article content Article content Twenty years ago, the Bloc Québécois MP at the time held sway in Vaudreuil—Soulanges. This riding, located on the west side of the island of Montreal, near the Ontario border, had elected Faille in 2004 following the sponsorship scandal. Article content Article content In a riding where former NDP Jack Layton grew up, having a separatist represent a bilingual and multicultural community was an odd fit. Article content Article content 'We had an incredible team on the ground. We were dedicated to the community… Honestly, I didn't even count the number of events I attended at the time, it was every single day,' Faille recalled in an interview with National Post. Article content Garneau, the then-president of the Canadian Space Agency was not launching his shuttle into space, but rather into the political sphere. Article content 'Marc Garneau, I am convinced, will be a star in the parliamentary firmament,' said Martin at the time. Article content He was not. Article content Faille easily beat him by more than 9,000 votes in 2006, when the Conservatives took power. Garneau was a neophyte who went so far as to predict that the Bloc would disappear, 'like dinosaur,' when he launched his political career. Article content Article content 'Marc Garneau was Canada, Canada, and simply Canada. It was his image. He was a Canadian figure. I mean, in the midst of the sponsorship scandal, it was a no-win situation for him,' Faille said. Article content 'Basically, he was not able to convince people that he could prioritize Quebec positions over federal positions,' she added. 'He was captain Canada.' Article content His relationship with Quebec was not always easy. After 14 years in the House of Commons, he resigned in 2023, before his own government passed Bill C-13, an overhaul of the Official Languages Act, which included references to Quebec's Charter of the French Language, known as Bill 96.
