Quebec Store Ordered To Change Facebook Page to French

[DonLever]

The owner of a store in Chelsea, Que., says she has been inundated with calls of support since the Quebec government ordered her to change the language on her store’s Facebook page to French.

Eva Cooper owns the women’s clothing boutique store, Delilah (in the Parc), with locations in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood and in Chelsea, just north of Gatineau.

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The Facebook page is only in English, though the store's pamphlets and sign are in French. (CBC)

Cooper said she serves customers in both languages, but her Facebook posts are mostly in English.

“I was a little bit in shock. I was a bit taken aback,” Cooper said regarding the request to change her Facebook page.

“It’s not like I’ve ever not followed the law with my businesses on the Quebec side.”

Customer complaint prompted order

Cooper said she received a letter from the provincial government after a customer complained the page did not meet the requirements of Bill 101, the main legislation in Quebec’s language policy.

Bill 101: Chapter VII

Language of Commerce and Business

52. Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications must be drawn up in French.

Cooper has been ordered to translate her page by March 10 or she could face legal action.

Jean-Pierre Leblanc, a spokesman with Quebec's French-language office, said any promotional material from a business must be written in French, including posts on Facebook and Twitter.

"It's not the media itself, it's the use of it, so when you use it for commercial purpose, advertising, you are selling product or you are advertising for a service, it's applied," said Leblanc.

But Cooper argues there are blurred lines because the law does not mention social media.

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“Interestingly enough, it doesn’t really state anything to do with Facebook, but it does talk about catalogues and brochures and flyers,” Cooper said.

“We are dealing with social media and the World Wide Web. It definitely is another area, and it’s a grey zone.”

Cooper said she's received many calls of support from English and francophone customers since news of the government order was publicized this week, and 'likes' on her Facebook page have tripled to close to 3,000.

Cooper said she requested an English copy of the letter from the government and she wants to learn more background on the law before making any changes.

In 2001, a couple selling maple syrup was fined for operating an English-only website in Quebec.

Social media should be exempt, says rights group

Sylvia Martine LaForge, a spokeswoman for the Quebec Community Groups Network, a Quebec English rights group, said the law was created in the 1970s and applies to pamphlets and signs but not social media.

She said the fact the province's New York office runs a Facebook page in English is a clear sign that social media should be exempt.

"It's a question of social media being such an unknown territory right now. So if you say to me, will their Facebook page in New York now be bilingual, or will it have a French site and an English site, they might have to consider that."

Julius Grey, a constitutional lawyer in Montreal, agrees the law is not specific when it comes to the internet.

"The OQLF has often tended to adopt very hard interpretation … It seems to me that when they talk about signs and so on, you’d have to then say social media are to be assimilated to signs and posters. I don’t think they are," said Grey

[pibroch]

Oh, man this French language stuff gets so annoying. People want everything in french cause the language is "dying" and then they get pissed off when you try to learn french.

Also, bilingualism is a joke in Ottawa, if you can speak french and say can yes and no in english then you are bilingua.

[Twilight Sparkle]

kwebeck pls

[French Toast Mafia]

Lol what a joke. Is there any question to why the rest of Canada does not take them seriously?

[ckamo]

Also, expect to see a war on "bonjour-hi" if PQ win majority. Because apparently PQ doesn't think there are more pressing matters in the province.

http://www.montrealg...4943/story.html

MONTREAL — Get ready for tougher language laws if the Parti Québécois wins a majority in the next provincial election, the minister responsible for Quebec’s French Language Charter said Monday.

Speaking to business leaders, Diane De Courcy vowed to halt Quebec’s “unacceptable slide” into institutional bilingualism — in Montreal and across the province.

A PQ majority government would make it a priority to bring back Bill 14 and to stamp out examples of creeping bilingualism like sales staff who greet customers with “Bonjour-Hi,” she said at a day-long conference on francization programs held by the Conseil du patronat.

“Montreal is not a bilingual city. Quebec is not a bilingual Quebec,” De Courcy said to reporters after her speech.

Last year, the government decided not to push for adoption of Bill 14, strengthening Quebec’s French Language Charter, because of a lack of support from opposition parties. The wide-ranging bill would extend Bill 101 rules for large businesses to smaller companies with between 25 and 50 employees, and toughen up aspects of the language law on access to English education and bilingual municipalities.

In particular, opposition parties denounced a clause in the bill that would strip military personnel of the right to send their children to English school. The government originally proposed to extend restrictions on English schooling to CEGEPs but dropped that idea.

Employees who deal with the public must be able to address customers correctly in French, “not like what we have right now in downtown Montreal, and not only in Montreal, which is ‘Bonjour-Hi,’ ” De Courcy said.

De Courcy said she thinks it’s great if individuals want to learn different languages like English, Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic in their private lives, but institutions and businesses must function strictly in French.

“There is a difference with what is institutional and it must be without mercy,” she said.

In her speech, she attacked opposition parties for failing to support Bill 14 and said Quebecers will not forgive the PQ government if it fails to protect French, which she claimed is under threat not just in Montreal but across Quebec.

“It’s false” to say French is not losing ground outside of Montreal, De Courcy said.

She said that while she is proud of the efforts some companies have made to implement francization policies, she is pained that some business owners do not seem very enthusiastic about protecting French.

De Courcy lashed out at those who say reinforcing Bill 101 would harm the economy and discourage immigrants from coming to Quebec.

Immigration requests have risen since Premier Pauline Marois’s government tabled its secularism charter, she said.

“Reinforcing the French character of Montreal is essential to facilitate integration (of immigrants),” she added.

Yves-Thomas Dorval, president of Conseil du Patronat, said that while business owners value the importance of French, it is important not to saddle employers with excessive regulations.

He also said he thought it was a mistake to present bilingualism as a threat.

“When it comes to the perception of bilingualism in the workforce as a threat, on the contrary, since around the world the international language of business is English, we have to be careful not to ghettoize ourselves,” he said.

Dorval said that while it is important to protect and improve French, “at the same time, we have to realize that if we don’t speak English, we are limiting our potential for international development, and also the career opportunities of employees,” he said.

At hearings on Bill 14 last year, the Conseil called on the government to scrap plans to apply francization requirements to businesses with between 25 and 50 employees, saying Quebec would be strangling small businesses with red tape.

[DarthNinja]

A little ironic that Quebec wants all things French in a town called Chelsea!

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

Empty banter from the PQ. They have done nothing to stop English-speaking (or at least non-French speaking) folk to pour into the province. Until they are able to effectively close the borders and control the population in the big cities (and the Anglo communities in the south), the most they'll be able to do is force FB changes.

This story is meaningless. Not precedent-setting, not an aggressive move, not a show of power... nothing really.

[AppleJack]

I say if Quebec wants to only speak french then LET them for the sole reason that then the rest of Canada SHOULDN'T have to.

[Henrik Kesler]

Christ, this is almost as bad as the vapid right-wing religious in the US.

[rawkdrummer]

How do say "bite me" in French?

[Brick Tamland]

Christ, this is almost as bad as the vapid right-wing religious in the US.

How are they related?

[Amish Rake Fighter]

How do say "bite me" in French?

Souhaitez-vous toucher mon singe?

or something like that

[King Heffy]

Can we just trade Quebec for Washington State or something?

[Mr.DirtyDangles]

How much more pathetic can society get ? Can the french language police just let it f..king go already ? We cant even agree on what language to use in this country. We are joke of a nation if this is what is making the daily news.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

I sometimes think DonLever posts these things sometimes to stir the pot and fester anti-Quebec attitudes out west. But the hate on QC has been going on for a while, which is extremely stupid considering how much we pulled for the French Canadians during the Olympics. When it comes to the Winter Games versus stupid news articles like this, I didn't expect the people here to be so dense.

[Armada]

Sous mes noix Quebec!

[Oliewud]

why do we subsidize these guys again?

[Common sense]

I sometimes think DonLever posts these things sometimes to stir the pot and fester anti-Quebec attitudes out west. But the hate on QC has been going on for a while, which is extremely stupid considering how much we pulled for the French Canadians during the Olympics. When it comes to the Winter Games versus stupid news articles like this, I didn't expect the people here to be so dense.

When you say out west, you mean the rest of Canada, oui?

[DonLever]

I sometimes think DonLever posts these things sometimes to stir the pot and fester anti-Quebec attitudes out west. But the hate on QC has been going on for a while, which is extremely stupid considering how much we pulled for the French Canadians during the Olympics. When it comes to the Winter Games versus stupid news articles like this, I didn't expect the people here to be so dense.

You are giving me too much credit for stirring up ant-Quebec attitudes. I did not make up the story. Why are you shooting the messenger? This is a national news story that have been broadcast in all of the TV networks. This is not a back story off a local newspaper. Next you will be blaming me for the Ukraine conflict because I posted a story about the fall of the Ukraine president.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

When you say out west, you mean the rest of Canada, oui?

Non. The maritimes and Newfoundland have different relationships with Quebec. The west, or at least the folks here in BC seem to think that Quebec, as a whole, is some socially backwards place that Canada should do without. Those same folks have no qualms with French Canadian athletes competing under Team Canada.

I'm calling people out on this forum. It's long-standing racist attitudes of a people and a culture we know very little beyond sports. It's these attitudes that make us overreact on stories like this.

why do we subsidize these guys again?

Because they give us gold medals and the Dufour-Lapointe sisters.

You are giving me too much credit for stirring up ant-Quebec attitudes. I did not make up the story. Why are you shooting the messenger? This is a national news story that have been broadcast in all of the TV networks. This is not a back story off a local newspaper. Next you will be blaming me for the Ukraine conflict because I posted a story about the fall of the Ukraine president.

I didn't mean to shoot the messenger this time around, and when I say you're stirring the pot, I just think you're bringing these attitudes up to the surface. You definitely have tendencies on the kinds of news articles you post, but so do the rest of us. I'm sorry if I personally offended you, in this instance at least. You have opinions and you do well to defend them, even though I think you're wrong a lot. But the others who make stupid comments about Quebec are ignorant and have a poor concept of Canadian culture as a whole.