Will the law also apply, for example, to Chinatown, where there will be almost no posters in Chinese? It will lose all its charm. And for all small traders, this will be a big expense. I believe that we will lose several multinationals and that ultimately this will affect our economy and our image in front of the rest of the world, and to what end?
Why do we have to go to such lengths to prove that we are a distinct society? Even France does not have all these laws.
What are really the benefits for our beautiful province? What are we afraid of to go this far? Lose our language. It is not by changing the names of businesses that we are going to protect it. I have had enough of all these laws which only harm our economy, because several multinationals are already in other provinces but not in Quebec because of all these laws.
Just being forced to ask them to put part of it in French is very insulting to Quebecers that they didn’t do it at the start. So, I consider the time frame to be very reasonable!
Are we asking to give them time? Why time? When they came to Quebec, they knew very well that here we live in French. I don’t think we have any more time to give them.
The law was sanctioned in 2022, the detailed regulations have just been published in June, merchants who had not already adopted a display respectful of the French-speaking majority will have yet another year to comply and some find that it is too fast. There is still a limit, perhaps a certain bad faith and a desire to always stretch the sauce. It should be mentioned that it is in fact a minority of small delinquent traders, mainly in Montreal, as well as a handful of multinationals who have very deep pockets and will not make us cry.
I don’t have a business, but I want to express myself all the same. What about Bill 101? How many times have I asked myself this question… Second Cup, DoorDash, Goodfood, Cookit, Bumper to Bumper… In fact, we are invaded by all these English-only names. And no one seems to care. I really didn’t like Mr. Roberge as Minister of Education, but now, if his shoes walk his talk, I will glorify him… Bravo! And in my opinion, we have been waiting for this moment for quite a long time, since Law 101, while businesses act quickly!
Once again, the government is hitting the wrong nail. Francising commercial signage will have no impact on the protection of French in Quebec, because the real problem is not there; it is rather in the importance and quality of its teaching and in its compulsory use among Quebecers in all public spaces.
The statistics demonstrate it very well, young adults and adolescents do not feel sufficiently concerned by the problem of protecting French in Quebec and, as the world of tomorrow will belong to them, drastic measures will be taken to reverse this trend. And changing the display is not one of them, at least not in the short term.
Even I, who am a fervent defender of the French language, understand and accept that foreign companies that have a storefront in Quebec keep their name as is. On the other hand, a Quebec company must have a French-speaking name, which unfortunately is not always the case. We only have to watch the show In the Eye of the Dragon to be convinced of this and to understand that even young Quebec entrepreneurs are not aware of the danger for the French language.