23 April 2016

Québec needs not fear the Flying Spaghetti Monster | Life in Québec

Québec needs not fear the Flying Spaghetti Monster | Life in Québec





There continue to be important debates about the place for religious
diversity within our society, and that’s not something we should take
lightly. However, Québec needs not fear the absurd results to which the
Flying Spaghetti Monster has taken other parts of the world and should
really stop spending so much money on such nonsense.

14 April 2016

Bill 101: PRO-French Provisions? No, ANTI-English

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/robyn-urback-the-new-trophy-of-french-cultural-protectionism-confused-anglos-roving-around-a-hospital

Quebec’s Bill 101 states that, “civil administration shall use only French in signs and posters, except where reasons of health or public safety require the use of another language as well.” The CISSS de Gaspésie was apparently in violation of this clause by having bilingual signs both for matters of health and safety (i.e. instructing people to wash their hands or wear masks in certain areas) but also for more minor instructions, such as directions to an examination room.

Row over French descriptions on trademarks reignited in Quebec - Blog - World Trademark Review

Row over French descriptions on trademarks reignited in Quebec - Blog - World Trademark Review





La Presse reports
that Prime Minister Philippe Couillard has intimated that an
announcement on the charter is imminent, with plans to ask supermarkets
to use French signage on their store facades. It reports, though, that
due to the previous legal decision, the government has cooled on the
notion of forcing companies to add a French descriptive term to their
trademark.

Burgundy Lion gets OQLF warning over TripAdvisor sticker on front window

Lyle said the letter he received is vague, saying only that he contravened a law and that future action may be taken.
A spokesman for the OQLF said the letter is only for information purposes, and there are no penalties involved. The agency's goal, Jean-Pierre Le Blanc said, is to let business owners know that French-language versions of such promotional stickers exist.
"This is one of about 300 to 400 letters we sent this month to businesses," said Le Blanc. "It's not an investigation. It's not a complaint. It's an incentive."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/burgundy-lion-oqlf-1.3423616

13 April 2016

SAQ looking into bilingual signage for some outlets | City News | thesuburban.com

SAQ looking into bilingual signage for some outlets | City News | thesuburban.com





Activist Murray Levine began a campaign recently to urge Quebecers to
ask the SAQ to install bilingual signs in some areas of Quebec, in
light of the fact the provincial Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s
(LCBO) policy is to provide services in French as well as English in 112
of its 634 outlets.

“In Ontario’s 25 designated areas, the
operational signage in every LCBO store must be bilingual,” says the
board’s policy. “This type of signage includes stores’ permanent signs
and general notices, such as those in the aisles and for customer
service.”

Ontario’s French Language Services Act states that there
are 26 designated areas where service is guaranteed in French by the
provincial government. The criteria is 10 percent of a city’s population
must be francophone, or there must be a population of at least 5,000
francophones in an urban area.

12 April 2016

NDP: Sherbrooke Declaration

English version of statement adopted in French by the General Council of the NDP (Quebec section) on Oct. 26, 2005.



09 April 2016

William Johnson: Quebec’s constitutional powers, real and imagined

William Johnson: Quebec’s constitutional powers, real and imagined | National Post

Quebec’s entire political class disgraced itself ... when the province’s National Assembly unanimously passed a motion that would be spurned as an absurdity in just about every mature democracy. Even Philippe Couillard’s nominally federalist Liberal members supported a motion that condemned the federal government for defending Canada’s constitutional order against a unilateral secession by Quebec.

The motion stated: “[Quebec’s] National Assembly condemns the intrusion of the Government of Canada into Quebec’s democracy by its determination to have struck down the challenged articles of the Act Respecting the Exercise of the Fundamental Rights and Prerogatives of the Québec People and the Québec State. The National Assembly demands that the Government of Canada abstain from intervening and challenging the Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State.”


The Act in question is Premier Lucien Bouchard’s Bill 99, which was passed in 2000 to counter the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in the secession reference, and the federal Clarity Act. The Court had insisted that a majority vote for secession, even a “clear answer” to a “clear question,” would not give Quebec a mandate to secede. Independence could be achieved legally only through an amendment to the Constitution of Canada with the Parliament of Canada and the provinces concurring ...