Quebec merchants should speak French to customers, Valérie Plante says

Article content

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said she would insist on being served in French if a clerk greeted her in English.

“To be honest, it didn’t happen to me, but I think it’s important to ask the person to speak French,” Plante said. “We’re in Quebec; the only official language is French. We need, and we should be offering services in French. If the person isn’t fluent, then we have to make sure the store accompanies the employee in getting French right.”

Article content

Article content

Plante made the comments Tuesday on the heels of a new survey made public by the Office québécois de la langue française. It revealed people shopping in Montreal are greeted in French alone 71 per cent of the time, down from 84 per cent in 2010. At the same time, bilingual greetings such as “Bonjour-Hi” accounted for 12 per cent of cases in the city, up from only four per cent when a similar study was conducted in 2010.

“For me, it’s an advantage to say ‘bonjour,’ and I think people like this,” Plante said. “I don’t think people feel less liked, appreciated or welcome if we don’t add a word in English. For me, I think we have to appropriate the ‘bonjour,’ because in Montreal, it’s an international city. There are lots of tourists and people who come from around the world. We say, ‘bonjour.’”

She added that there are many programs to help workers serving the public improve their French, including those given by the province and the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.

“People come to Montreal knowing it’s a French city. Although we want to be welcoming to everybody, we should be proud and we should encourage people to only say ‘bonjour.’”

Article content

Article content

In Quebec City, Jean-François Roberge, the minister of the French language, repeated in his view that being welcomed in French in a shop should be the norm.

He said it is nothing against the English language.

“It is just normal to be welcomed, 100 per cent of time, in French in business, whether that is Montreal, Gatineau or Gaspé.”

He stressed, however, that the government cannot do everything when it comes to the language of shops, shifting the onus on citizens to insist on a French greeting or take their business to another shop.

“Quebecers have to take French to heart,” he said. “Quebecers will save French. Of course, when you go to a store and you are welcomed by ‘Bonjour-Hi,’ it’s not the best.

“It should be ‘Bonjour’ and then if people want to be served in English, they can ask. But here in Quebec, Montreal, Alma, Gaspé, the welcome should be in French.”

“‘Bonjour-Hi’ sends the wrong message that we are a bilingual nation,” he added. “We are not. In Quebec, French is the one and only common and official language, but we are proud that we are bilingual.

“It’s an important difference.”

jmagder@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jasonmagder

pauthier@postmedia.com

twitter.com/philipauthier

Article content

Article content