Graham Hughes for National Post - Walking along downtown Ste. Catherine Street, it is hard not to conclude that the battle to preserve Montreal’s “French face” is a losing one. Between Foot Locker and Winners, New Look and Banana Republic, Gap and Future Shop, the store names are overwhelmingly English. One business adds a token “Le” to its name but another cannot bring itself to translate “since 1851” into French.
With globally recognizable brands increasingly the norm, on the streets of Berlin and Rome as much as Montreal and New York, a law designed to keep Quebec storefronts predominantly French seems out of step with the times.
But that does not mean the provincial government agency in charge of enforcing Quebec’s Language Charter is ready to throw in the towel. This week, the Office québécois de la langue française — unaffectionately known as the language police — said that it would launch a campaign in the fall aimed at reversing the tide of anglicization.
“Because of globalization, because of social networks, because of freedom, there are no more linguistic or cultural borders. And that is good,” Louise Marchand, president of the Office, said in an interview this week.
“Except, we have to be more vigilant, because we are more permeable to all sorts of influences.”
An easing of the vigilance has created a situation where, at first glance, the main streets and malls of Montreal look little different from those of any other big North American city. Clothing companies are “outfitters,” renovation supplies come from Home Depot and the once blackballed apostrophe is making a comeback.
The French Language Charter, also known as Bill 101, requires the name of a business to be in French but makes an exception on signage and advertising for trademarked names.
There was a time when companies entering the Quebec market translated their names into French, which is why you can buy dinner at Poulet frit Kentucky (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and fill a prescription at Pharmaprix (Shoppers Drug Mart). But recently the trend has been for stores to keep their globally known names, which more often than not are English.
The campaign planned for the fall will inform companies that even if they are allowed to use English names, the law requires the name to be accompanied by a “generic term” in French.
Those are exceptions, however, and Ms. Marchand said the Office will be trying to persuade other major chains to follow suit.
It will be done through persuasion and through an advertising campaign that might increase pressure from customers and speed the stores’ conversion to good corporate citizenship.
“Our goal is not to have complaints and make businesses pay fines,” she said. “We want to inform businesses that the law is there.”
For the 2009-10 fiscal year, the most recent for which statistics are available, the Office received 2,780 complaints from the public about non-respect of Bill 101. Nearly one complaint in five was found to be unfounded. About 40% of all complaints involved commercial signs and advertising.
Ms. Marchand said it is an indication of the Office’s co-operative attitude that only 1% of complaints lead to an actual prosecution. (Companies found guilty face fines ranging from $1,500 to $20,000.)
Home Depot, a chain that is often cited as an example by French-language activists, said it took the step of dropping “The” from its logo when it entered the Quebec market more than 10 years ago — something it did not do in its other non-English markets. Company spokeswoman Tiziana Baccega said Home Depot is monitoring news about the Office’s latest crackdown but has not been contacted directly.
Christopher Bennett, a spokesman for Best Buy Canada and Future Shop, said the companies are in discussions with the Office to add French to the signage at the 44 stores operating under the two brands in Quebec. The exact wording has not been determined.
But even as the Office promises to tighten the screws — however politely — on English-named businesses, it faces criticism that it is too soft. François Legault, the politician whose new Coalition pour l’avenir du Québec leads public opinion polls in Quebec, this week called on the Office to “put on its pants” and ensure businesses serve French-speaking customers in their language.
And on Friday, the language-defence group Impératif français complained the Office does not do enough to encourage the public to file complaints.
It called on francophones to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Bill 101 next year by complaining to the Office if they feel the law is not being respected in such areas as the workplace, commercial signs, websites, flyers and video games.
“It is through their engagement that citizens can actively combat delinquency and arrogance,” the group said.
That kind of rhetoric carried the day back when Bill 101 was introduced. But apart from a few language hardliners, the gradual cosmetic surgery performed on the city’s French face does not seem to be upsetting too many Quebecers. If they have to be encouraged to complain, maybe they don’t think there is much worth complaining about.