OQLF targets English schools next

Posted By: Laura Casella · 2/25/2013 12:57:00 PM

We've heard about all the restaurants being targeted by the language police in recent days. Well now, the Office québécois de la langue française seems to be turning its sights to the English schools.

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board got a letter recently because of the language of its voice mail system.

In a letter the board sent to its staff last week, which CJAD obtained a copy of, it says two complaints were made to the OQLF regarding their phone messages being done only in English, or with Engish prior to French.

A parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he does not understand why someone would complain about an English recorded voice mail at an English school.

"I find it is kind of nit-picking," he says, "and on top of the fact that it is an English school board, so if you are sending your child to an English school, there is going to be English, obviously."

The board is reminding employees at all levels that phone messages must first be recorded in French, followed by English, and you can never just have an English message. 

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  1. cindy posted on 02/25/2013 01:44 PM
    NOTHING WILL CHANGE UNLESS PEOPLE START REFUSING TO COMPLY! I HAS BEEN DONE, IT CAN BE DONE & IT'S THE ONLY WAY THAT WE (THE PEOPLE) CAN PASS THE MESSAGE ON TO THE OQLF THAT WE WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE THIS ABUSE! I THINK IT MADDENS ME MORE TO SEE PEOPLE BENDING TO THEIR IDIOCIES!! HAVE TO TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR / OUR OWN HANDS BECAUSE WAITING FOR THE HARPER GOV TO DO SOMETHING WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING!
    1. lynn posted on 02/25/2013 05:09 PM
      @cindy With fines ranging from $600-$6,000 I would feel inclined to comply as well. However, the schools should not until they verify whether there is an exemption for English schools which I believe there is.
  2. Le Québécois posted on 02/25/2013 01:53 PM
    I'm sure a wave of Québec bashing is coming on this blog... :)

    I would just like to comment that the OQLF is never in any way preventing english to be there, just that french has to be there as well.

    It's kind of polite to include the official language of Québec in communications.

    To have it only in english would mean to ignore the existence of the french majority and contribute to isolationism and "ghetto-isation" of the english minority in Québec.

    Anyway, if you can not tolerate any french in your messages in Québec then there's a problem.
    1. lynn posted on 02/25/2013 05:07 PM
      @Le Québécois It wouldn't be an issue if they weren't targeting English schools as they are exempt.
      Also, our school board was told to remove English safety signs but the French schools did not have to comply? Why not?
    2. Joe posted on 02/25/2013 05:12 PM
      @Le Québécois Sorry but at this time quebec is part of Canada. Canada is a bilingual country. It is an English School Board. Get over it. True, there is a problem and it is you people are so closed minded. Wake up, this is 2013 not the 1800's.
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  3. TSTBTCB posted on 02/25/2013 01:56 PM
    LINGUISTIC GENOCIDE!!!
    And we pay these poeple to do it.
    And the province is drowning in debt.
    We must CRAZY!
    1. Iain posted on 02/25/2013 11:10 PM
      @TSTBTCB I don't think the OQFL can commit linguistic genocide, there are just a few too many of us Anglophones that live beyond its reach.
  4. Tom Pernis posted on 02/25/2013 01:57 PM
    The OQLF can call my cell number where my voice mail message is in english. I know that I am not a business but when will it end? OQLF you can call me at 514-555-1212. Leave a message. Thanks.
  5. ron posted on 02/25/2013 02:02 PM
    NEXT is newspaper and tv, and radio stations in MONTREAL .Too much English over the air system.
  6. clint posted on 02/25/2013 02:22 PM
    I hear that there are people who practice this in their private homes. Are they next? Stay tuned for the wacky antics to follow.
  7. Tony Fregapane posted on 02/25/2013 02:33 PM
    It must be the same parent who complained to our pre-novice hockey director that their 6 yr old son does not understand " skate " or "shot". Also 1 kid on my 8 yr old son's novice b team is a francophone & we got a complain that to much english is spoken among the kids in the locker room. If you do not like it play for JHS or move to the 450.
  8. Lynn posted on 02/25/2013 02:41 PM
    I thought schools and churches were exempt from Bill 101.
  9. Sabrina Trottier posted on 02/25/2013 02:51 PM
    When your child is going to english school, we all know that they are going to learn english prior to french?... Why are they complaining that they are receiving english messages if its an ENGLISH SCHOOL ? Why would they have to call you in french ? Why your kids are going to english school if you cant even understand when the teachers are calling you.. euuuu ?????
  10. LMAO posted on 02/25/2013 02:58 PM
    Easy solution to the problem here. It says all bilingual messages . Best to do it just in English, which is apparently acceptable - problem solved.
    1. Buckyjay posted on 02/25/2013 04:32 PM
      @LMAO as per Cindy's comments I agree that we have to STAND UP to these bullies, otherwise nothing will happen. What these idiots do is pure and simple "BULLYING"
  11. Grace posted on 02/25/2013 03:01 PM
    Until the day that the OLF can divulge the name/s of the complainants, this kind of harassment will continue. Complainants can hide behind anonymity - this is tentamount to cyber bullying where the bully hides behind anonymity. The OLF should be forced to list and name all complainants - when that is done (I doubt it though) less and less people will complain.
    1. Jaime Patton posted on 02/25/2013 04:48 PM
      @Grace Hit the NAIL with the HAMMER. If they do not divulge the name, it is not considered a complaint and so there can not be any reppremending taken place, period.
      Or we just do it the old way, not listen or comply.
  12. Laura posted on 02/25/2013 03:07 PM
    These idiots need a hobby. I am so ashamed of what has been allowed to happen here.
  13. Richard Di Gennaro posted on 02/25/2013 03:15 PM
    Why is this memo only in English?
    1. Lyne Motard Geddes posted on 02/25/2013 06:15 PM
      @Richard Di Gennaro you must be kidding right???
  14. Gerry posted on 02/25/2013 04:35 PM
    Years ago, when the OQLF was in its infancy (and it was a colicky baby) I was working at one of my first jobs. I worked at a hotel on Cote de Liesse. I got the job because my father worked there. I was approached by management saying there was a complaint that I was speaking to another worker in English. If it was reported to the OLF, as it was then called, the Hotel could lose its certificate of language compliance. The other worker was my father. It didn't matter, he said. There were no exceptions. Nice to see that they are at least consistent in their stupidity.
  15. Marc posted on 02/25/2013 06:08 PM
    I wonder if this letter was only sent in English. I don't see the the French. Can I send a complaint asking the office why it was not sent in French. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. So what if the rest of the world is laughing at Quebec? Isn't the PQ embarrassed?
  16. connie posted on 02/25/2013 06:46 PM
    I'm a little baffled at the fact that the language police seem to be all over the map when they should first and foremost look at their own territory.
    If you ask me it should be BQLF for BUREAU....OFFICE is ENGLISH...n'est pas?!!!!
  17. Cindy B. posted on 02/25/2013 08:16 PM
    @le Quebecois - Reread the letter a little more carefully. Asking to have the message INCLUDE french, I can understand. But that's not enough, they are demanding that the french message be first, BEFORE the English. That's petty and ridiculous.
  18. John F. posted on 02/25/2013 09:56 PM
    After reading the content from the "Memo" by Marie-Claude Drouin of the "Sir Wilfred Laurier School Board" I am appalled by the position that the School Board has taken.

    This is an ENGLISH institution and ENGLISH is a priority therefore ALL correspondence should be in ENGLISH FIRST & FRENCH SECOND.

    Wake up you bunch of "wimps" and STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!!!
    1. Frank posted on 02/26/2013 05:41 PM
      @John F. You talk like if any of your rights were in danger...
      A law, that wasn't much respected, said: French prior to english in this province. It's a way for the 7 millions of french speaking persons to protect their cultural and language heritage. 7-8 millions francophones with 360 millions americans and 30 millions canadians speaking english around them, those laws HAVE to exist.
      No one is trying to arm you and your rights to speak english. It's just about respecting the other people living in this province.
      English is not in danger, anglophones are not in danger. This is a simple thing to have a message in both official languages and have the french one coming first, since it's Québec. No one is forcing you to learn french or to even open yourself to the culture of the place you live. No one. Just a simple bilingual message to make everybody happy.
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  19. Claude Ryan posted on 02/26/2013 01:07 AM
    The time has come to free ourselves from both Quebec and Canada. Montreal is a cash cow is it not? Lets become American, home of the free. Enough with the past. Imagine living in peace where the collective language is ours? I would not look back. Canada and its oh so sweet crap defends everything but us anglos. To live in peace... In the blink of an eye... Pasta, safety signs that address those who require them, signage that tourists understand, money that smells like money not toxic plastic monopoly toys... Stand on guard for what? Put it to rest for good.
    1. Johan posted on 02/26/2013 10:25 PM
      @Claude Ryan Have you fallen on your head... the USA has not been the land of the free for decades and it is getting worst every year... if you think it is so great, than please feel free to move there... but no one here with an once of brain would want to be assimilated into the USA.... no way in hell... we have enough problem as it is...

      The OQLF is going over the top.... I totally agree it is abusive and I am french... I have never agreed with it and I still don't.... it has done nothing but tear apart the population of the Province and cause division between francophone and anglophone... and worst part is, it was done at a time when the number of anglophone taking the time to learn french was increasing faster than ever before... so this stupid law 101 destroyed... I saw all the changes it brought and it was not good and still is not...

      Worst part is, that those who support it are not even smart enough to realize it is even more discriminatory and detrimental to the francophone than anyone else.... any anglophone can send his kids to french school for a couple of years to make sure they are fully bilingual by the time they finish school... but no francophone is allowed to do it, not in public schools.... that to me is big discrimination and it is not good for the education of our children... whether people like it or not, english is necessary for anyone hoping for a good position in a big business, there is no way around this one.... big business means suppliers from outside Quebec who more often than none do NOT speak French... big business also means clients outside Quebec who most of the time do NOT speak French... so how the hell can francophone compete at the business level if they are not even allowed to learn English properly....
      Quebec say they want tourism.... hell most of them are anglophone, that's where the money is....
      But hey... I guess fanaticism is more important than common good sense....
      And talking of common good sense, wanting for any part of Canada to become part of the USA is madness, specially with all the shit going on in the USA.... those who think that should just move there... go see if it is really better on the other side.... it won't be what you hope for, that's for sure... but anyone is welcome to go there if they wish... no one stopping you, it's your own personal choice...
  20. cliff posted on 02/26/2013 07:48 AM
    Pauline Marois at the Higher education summit!! Now that is a oxymoron, with heavy on the moron :)
  21. Maureen Gallagher posted on 02/26/2013 09:36 AM
    The OLF should have to require any complainer to give his name, address and a real email address or don't accept the complaint. After all even the Mouvement Quebec Francais requires that. This way we'd see how FEW actual complaints there are. They should also require any complainers to agree to have their name published at least on their own site as to how many times that ONE person complained.
    1. Frank posted on 02/26/2013 05:48 PM
      @Maureen Gallagher That would be a huge call-out for bullying, blackmailing and deathtreats. See, this is why it's anonymus. So people can complain about what really bother them and the law can be respected. It doesn't matter who complained. If the school is not respecting the law, sanctions must be applyed.
  22. karen hoyeck posted on 02/26/2013 11:11 PM
    All this is making me think twice about living here...it is very small minded to pick on little things such as this when we have such bigger problems
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