All business signs in the province of Quebec must be in French. If the business operator wishes to have English on the sign, the French must be at least twice as large as the English is. There are no laws governing the usage of other languages on signs. -Bill 101 (Passed 1976)

Comment from Keith Conroy
Time April 16, 2011 at 10:07 pm

Again, I fail to see how this stupid. It’s about the survival of a relatively small French culture in a sea of Canadian & North American English culture. Maybe when you are part of the majority culture, it’s difficult to see this.

Comment from Karla
Time May 28, 2011 at 1:55 am

It IS stupid, not to mention a violation of our basic rights. Apparently, freedom of choice does not exist in Quebec. The truth is, I have no problem with Quebec wanting to preserve the French language. By all means, go ahead and preserve it. But here’s an idea… How about THEY (the French people in Quebec) preserve their OWN language…by speaking french in their house and running THEIR business in french. Why must I, an English person, be forced to preserve it for them? It’s ridiculous. If I’m opening a business with MY money, and running it with MY money, I should be able to have English only signs if I darn well want to.

Comment from Bec
Time June 14, 2011 at 5:26 am

Nothing stupid about this law.

Comment from Tasha
Time June 15, 2011 at 5:54 am

What makes this law .. funny if not stupid.. is you go to chinatown in montreal and there is no english signage, no french signage.. but plenty o chinese signage

Comment from Cody
Time June 29, 2011 at 6:56 pm

This law is indeed very stupid.

Comment from Jenna
Time July 19, 2011 at 4:45 am

I find this law not stupid. Mostly because it was most likely pasted to stop the French in Canada from rooting and revolting. Because that almost happened. They kidnapped some people in office ( one is dead) and had mailbox explosives. I learned about this in my Canadian History class, which we take, here in Canada.

Comment from tom
Time July 26, 2011 at 4:14 am

i’m a half english- half-quebecois young adult, and though this law DOES make sense in some ways, its stupid in others, for example: it makes sense to try to preserve the language, im all for it, im perfectly bilingual, how ever, it’s stupid to have language police, its a waste of taxpayer money.

Comment from Brittany
Time July 26, 2011 at 1:47 pm

This law actually doesn’t exist anymore, they tried to do it but then there was a huge fuss about it and the federal government killed it. Signs in Quebec do have to be in both English and French but it was a law for a short period of time.

Comment from tom
Time July 26, 2011 at 10:30 pm

it’s still a law, enforced by the OLF( officiers de la langue francaise) however, parts of it were called unconstitutional. this is just one small part of bill 101

Comment from Mike
Time August 4, 2011 at 12:10 am

I go to Parc safari and not one english sign. Didnt know what half the animals were.

Comment from To Mike
Time August 31, 2011 at 2:35 pm

Quick note Mike, if it’s tall and has a long neck, I would say Giraffe, It’s really hard to tell an animal when thre aren’t any signs

Comment from j
Time September 21, 2011 at 9:05 am

As an english Canadian who lives and does business exclusively in Quebec, I do not like this law. It is simple discrimination. Its a hidden tax on people that want to do business in their language of choice. Many areas in Montreal are almost exclusively English and businesses in these areas should have the right to target their customers.
You think that Spanish is dying in Miami because people put up English signs? Of course not! Did New Yorkers start speaking Mandarin because many restaurants in China Town don’t have english translations? If Quebecois culture isn’t strong enough to endure in the face of English culture, then let it die. I’ve been to a dozen countries where english signs are everywhere yet the people haven’t stopped speaking their native language. A few signs won’t kill french, if Quebecois even is french.
Paranoia about language has turned the Quebecois into a bunch of racist fascists. You think I appreciate having my rights infringed upon to protect another’s? We are supposed to live in a bilingual country with equal rights for all. Why the hell should french people have more rights than me?

Comment from Donna
Time October 1, 2011 at 11:26 am

yes it is a stupid law, as a matter of fact IT IS NOT!!! A LAW it was voided in 1988, only the province thinks it can still push it through by having these language police…guess what, this will now be brought the attention of the Government of Canada…i damn near was in 3 accidents in the province of Quebec 2 weeks ago…why? because all of the damn construction signs were in French.

And Keith Connroy, English speaking Canada is now the minority…because there are very few College and University programs that will except you if you do not have French on your credits…keep dreaming

Comment from Chris
Time October 17, 2011 at 6:30 am

I 100% agree with Karla and I am fully bilingual, raised in French.

The Minister of Education does incredibly stupid things that actually directly threaten the quality of French spoken and learned in schools.

If they concentrated on that instead of stupidities like font size on signs or if your website is translated in French even if you don’t do any business in Quebec or if you have more than 25 employees in your building, they need to use French operating systems/software… and the list of idiocies goes on….

And Donna, unfortunately it is still law in Quebec; we even have a growing division dedicated to the language police because those morons don’t understand where the problem lies and French as a language and culture is still dying despite all their efforts to squash those evil small businesses that dare to have English words noticeable on their buildings…

The more bureaucratic the place, the more ‘slow’ it gets and Quebec is king where bureaucracy is concerned. Short bus anyone?

Comment from Jim
Time October 17, 2011 at 7:33 am

Chris,

It’s nice to see evidence that there are rational Québécois. Unfortunately, I suspect you’re in the same situation we are in the US; strongly outnumbered and losing to the politically correct and simply stupid.

Comment from Jim
Time January 24, 2012 at 7:18 pm

Its not the law that’s stupid…it’s the québécois that are..what do you expect from a nation of inbred handicaps…we should put stupid on their for head and twice as big in French. Maybe then they will understand …talk about inferior human beings…a disgrace to man kind.

Comment from Jim
Time January 24, 2012 at 7:22 pm

Too bad they fail to remember where in CANADA!!!!!!!! Oooohhh that they forget…..there brains are clogged with pouting cheese and gravy … I hope the rest of them choke and die on one… Maybe then we can do something productive with the land and the air that they waste by breathing it!!!!

Comment from BC
Time June 12, 2012 at 11:13 am

Not Stupid. First, Quebec is a french province, like other provinces are english or bilingual int he case of NB… Has nothing to do with your tax money if you don’t live in Quebec. Second, I live in BC where there are no such laws. As a consequence, in some parts of Vancouver, I can’t understand what the signs say because they are in Chinese or Korean. Sucks that business don’t have to use english. I understand why the Quebecois want to reinforce that law. Third, they are protecting their language, which is an important part of the history and culture of Canada. To finish, JIM you are an idiot!

Comment from Anthony
Time June 22, 2012 at 11:48 am

This is such a stupid law. As an English person in Quebec, it feels as if the government wants to completely exterminate the English population from Quebec. This law has already had consequences, but one day the English population will have enough!

Comment from Jim
Time August 3, 2012 at 8:03 am

If this law is stupid, then all laws protecting culture are. What do you think? Quebecers will let their roots die an get assimilated? No way! We have a great peace of land with a lot of history. The oldest city in north america is Quebec… I feel bad for those who dont understand that. No wonder natives of america are pissed.

Pingback from Superdiversity and the Death of Culture « Dispatches from Radioville
Time September 5, 2012 at 4:27 am

[...] to a moral and intellectual code that hasn’t been relevant since the 14th century, and assorted inane laws in many countries intended to “protect” culture, regardless of its practical [...]

Comment from Sky
Time October 23, 2012 at 3:04 pm

This is why Quebec should separate from the rest of Canada.

Comment from Wesley
Time November 23, 2012 at 7:15 am

Its funny how so many here say well its to protect their culture, they have every right to do it. Caucasians are becoming a minority in North America, how do you think it would be received if politicians enacted laws limiting blacks, Asians, or other ethic groups from advertising their business, how to communicate in public, what schools your children can attend, as well as discriminatory school taxing policies? It would be seen as absurd, racist, and a complete violation of their human rights. In quebec, its all good. I have nothing wrong with trying to preserve the French culture (should be like most other provinces and have everything bilingual) it isn’t preserving a culture by shoving it down peoples throats. “It wasn’t genocide what happened to the natives; it was merely white Europeans preserving their culture in North America.”

Comment from Matt
Time December 16, 2012 at 10:48 pm

I think the most intelligent and compose comment is BC.
And for the one who say that is racism, make some little researches on anti-francophones laws in Canada like:
Bill 17 in Ontario (1916): who prohibit french in schools.
Official Language Act in Manitoba (1890): who ban french from all the governemental structure.
Alberta School Act (1905) and School Act (Saskatchewan-1909): Laws who ban french from all school, and KKK campaigned against french in these provinces.
AND
You have the «One Country, One Flag, One Language» in USA.
So now, for ones who say that qubecers are racist, read well your history book!

Comment from Anon
Time December 17, 2012 at 1:33 pm

To the people arguing that this is stupid;
For starters, Quebec is highly populated with French speakers. The reason for this is because the French were the first Europeans to settle Canada. Meaning many people still speak French. I don’t know what to say about the part where it has to be twice the size of the English writing, but I get the French part. It’s a respect thing for the original culture.

I may not be completely right on all my facts, and I know that. I live in Texas, but my ancestry is French, (The ones that went to Canada then Louisiana), and my mum’s been to Canada.

Comment from Charlie
Time May 10, 2013 at 8:53 pm

It’s not stupid. You don’t know how it feels to have your language endangered, your 7 million people drown into a 400 million english people baths. And if we loose our language, we will slowly start to loose everything about our culture, because people will start to watch American shows like in the ROC, since the medias control the vast majority of the people, and the only thing that’ll remain will be monuments for tourists. Beside, it’s not racist at all, but some have explained why before me. Most people who say it is racist can’t even explain why and just bitch. Also, I’d like to make a big F*CK YOU to the guy that hopes I choke (A Jim)and to say to another Jim (If it isn’t the same) that there’s no link between the fact that Quebec is the oldest city in North America and our assimilation.