Peter Black 

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Feb. 14, 2024

The same week that Premier François Legault declared it was unfortunate that young francophones find it “cool” to use English words, a report in Le Journal de Québec decried the increase in complaints of English use by businesses in Quebec City.

Under the headline, “French in decline in Quebec (City). French increasingly mistreated in Quebec (City)” (Recul du français à Québec. Le français de plus en plus malmené à Québec), the paper reports that complaints to the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) about business services in French have increased from 56 in 2021 to 67 in 2023. 

Complaints about English commercial signage jumped from 63 to 104 in the same period. A chart in the report showed the increase was the largest proportionally in the province. For example, complaints about commercial signage in Montreal only increased from 662 to 677 in the last two years.

The report does not give specific examples of complaints made to the OQLF, but the newspaper went out and found its own. The story contains pictures of two shops in Old Quebec, one with a Bonhomme Carnaval emblem in the window along with a small sign saying “Come in. We’re Open.”

The other is from Fucklamode, a well-known clothing store on Rue du Petit Champlain, which has a small sign saying “Closed.” No French equivalent sign is depicted in the photo.

Under Bill 96, the language law crackdown, businesses with a storefront in Quebec will have until April 2025 to ensure that French is “markedly predominant” over any other language.

Le Journal also investigated selected retail businesses in its quest for violations of language laws. The reporter visited the Dollarama in Place de la Cité and found an employee stocking shelves who could not reply in French. A French-speaking employee intervened.

At the McDonald’s restaurant on Rue Bouvier, which the reporter visited at 11:30 p.m., no employee at the counter was able to express themselves in French.

There was no answer at the restaurant when the QCT called for comment.

Dollarama spokesperson Lyla Radmanovich told the Journal, “French is a second language for some of our employees, and Dollarama encourages these employees in their efforts to improve their knowledge of the French language.”

The QCT was unable to reach Radmanovich directly for comment. The French-speaking manager of the Dollarama refused to comment on the Journal report.

The Journal quotes Maxime Laporte, president of Mouvement Québec français: “The status and vitality of our national language are regressing, as are the fundamental linguistic rights of Quebecers, including in the Capitale-Nationale region. I think businesses, including businesses that operate in the tourism sector, have an interest in being proud to display themselves in French and to show themselves to be franco-responsible.”

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Image below

Image from Journal de Québec. 

Photos by Elisa Cloutier and Stevens Leblanc from Journal de Québec
Pictures in Journal de Québec story show examples of alleged language law violations.