Mostly I love Montreal. But about once a week I hear some stupid jabber that makes me mad enough to pack me bags and move to Toronto. I know, scary stuff. This week's trigger was the investigation by the Office de la langue francaise (OLF) into the English signs inside an Irish pub in downtown Montreal. This week the OLF is upset because the signs fail to conform to Bill 101, which outlines the French language in Quebec. According to Bill 101, French must be prominent in any business. Generally this means that the French is usually twice the size of the English font, or the English is barely legible in a pale gray font on a white background. The French is not prominent on these particular signs because many are the vintage Guiness signs that adorn the walls of most Irish pubs. Most people would admire them for their artistic and historical value, but the OLF watchdogs see these signs as a threat to the vibrancy of the French language in Quebec. The pub is facing a 1500$ fine for their lack of regard for the French language unless they take the signs down. Their grace period expires just in time for... guess when? That's right. St-Patrick's Day. It seems the OLF is really bent on ruining the St-Patrick's day parade which usually attracts somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 to 750, 000 people. Maybe they're upset that it proves too much competition for their St-Jean Baptiste parade. Or that while St-Patrick's Day is known for the drunken entertainment it provides, St-Jean Baptiste is mostly renown for the vandalism that abounds throughout the city. In any case, the pub is starting a petition online at http://www.byebyeolf.com/
If you find this as insane as all of us in Montreal, add your name to the petition. By the way, last week's trigger came from a comment I heard on a radio show from a francophone woman who thought that the use of spoken English should be restricted to private homes. To check out the most ridiculous shit you've seen all year, please refer to http://www.olf.gouv.qc.ca/
