The thing I noticed was that the labels on the device were unilingually English, something I never thought about because I assumed that Bell sent me an English version because of my language preference.
Not so, I discovered to my surprise, all the remote controls have English only labelling.
Now why the OQLF does not force Bell to provide French labelling is mystifying, after all, Bell may have bought the devices in the USA, but they seem to have been able to add their BELL logo at the bottom of the device with no problem, so why not add French labels to the actual control buttons?
It is this type of incoherence that is maddening.
The OQLF seems dogged in attacking English only websites of mom and pop businesses that operate in Quebec, in order to shut them down or have them provide a French version.
It is hard to understand the rationale whereby the big players get a pass and the little players are screwed.
As they say in Quebec, Deux poids et deux mesures (Two weights..two measures.) One set of rules for the rich and powerful companies and one for the schnooks.
It remains almost comical that vehicles in Quebec are allowed to be sold with dashboard labels exclusively in English but toy cars require French lettering.
Now I'm not going to return to the discussion about whether the OQLF serves a purpose and whether the defense of the French language at the expense of English is justified.
The whole subject of the place of English in Quebec is riddled with paradoxes and counter-intuitive opinions on the French side.
Polled as to the necessity of Bill 101, Francophone Quebecers are overwhelmingly in favour of the law, yet privately wish to send their kids to English school.
It seems to me that the OQLF has adopted a policy of doing what it can to reasonably implement aspects of the law while accepting that in certain instances, it cannot realistically impose its will.
That in and of itself seems logical, my father taught me as a young lad that if it's impossible to obtain the whole loaf of bread, take half.
The OQLF offers waivers to tech companies to operate in English, something they'd never allow small businesses to do.
While cars sold in many foreign countries have local language dashboards, North America has been deemed an 'Engish' market by car makers and so labels are exclusively in pictograms and English. (That being said, all computer generated instructions on smart screens are available in French in Canada.) But car makers have rejected the notion of bilingual or trilingual dashboards in North America because including Spanish and French would make the dashboards too cluttered and aesthetically displeasing. Not to mention the outrage that Americans would heap onto car makers for including 'foreign' languages, undermining the American principle of the 'melting pot.'
But to change the dashboards for Quebec cars to include French-language labels would be expensive, a cost that purchasers of said vehicles would have to bear, something the OQLF could not abide.
An overriding principle of the OQLF is that Francophone Quebecers should never be forced to pay the additional cost of adding French to a product.
Imagine the outrage if movies that were dubbed in French for Quebec francophone audiences included a surcharge to defray the cost, resulting in Quebec theatres charging more for the French version showing in Screen 1 in the multiplex, than the English version showing in Screen 2.
And so the OQLF demands that moviegoers across Canada share equally in the additional cost of French dubbing, having the effect that such cost is borne by the 75% majority of English-speaking movie-goers.
Perhaps separatists should consider this specific subsidy as an example of the hidden cost of sovereignty that would pervade the entire consumer market in an independent state... But I digress.
While all consumer products are required to have French labels and instructions, the OQLF turns a blind eye where vital products, produced outside Canada don't or won't provide such labelling. A good example is the tiny football helmet market where the few producers are all based in the USA and won't go through the expensive translation process for what is, in fact, less than 1% of their customers. And so university teams such as the vaunted Rouge et Or of Quebec suit up in equipment that has English only instructions, as the OQLF stands by without comment.
And of course there is the elephant in the room, the fact that the OQLF ignores the sale of English books and magazines without translated versions because to demand their translation into French would be impossible and to ban them unacceptable with the ensuing charges of state book-banning a humiliating result.
But that being said, toys and video games are subject to the law because the OQLF deems that exposure to English by children is a dangerous element of bilingualism, the bane of the organization.
And so, the OQLF seems to have put a bit of water in its wine, doing what it can, ignoring what it cannot. That in and of itself isn't inconsistent or incoherent, but where the operation of the OQLF is fraught with incoherence, is in the decidedly cruel enforcement of the rules on small English businesses imposed in a spiteful and vengeful manner, meant to inflict pain, perhaps out of frustration that the big players get away Scott-free.
I imagine that those who work at the OQLF are dedicated Anglo-bashers, it takes a certain hater to suffer the slings and arrows of abuse, especially the actual inspectors who relish their role in coming down hard on small anglo 'offenders.'
It is here where I charge the OQLF with incoherence, imposing rules on some and not others.
A notable example is Loto-Quebec casinos operating in various locations across the province.
Here the casinos offer slot machines obviously purchased in the USA and which remain exclusively English. All with the blessing of the OQLF which has either provided a waiver or turned a blind eye.
Now before apologists point out that it is just the name of the game that is in English, let me point out that the words on the spinning tumblers are also exclusively in English.
This is nothing short of dereliction of duty because if any organization can afford to translate the artwork into French it is the printing press that is the casinos. Ignoring the casinos English-only transgressions while demanding that mom and pop stores provide French labels for English board games is the height of hypocrisy, but then the very nature of the OQLF is hypocrisy because its raison-d'etre has always been not only to promote and protect the French language but to punish anglophones for using English.
That is why the OQLF goes after small home businesses with ridiculous demands that those who don't even sell their products in Quebec bilingualize their websites at additional cost, without consideration of the added burden.
"When contacted by The Montreal Gazette, the OQLF said that even if items are not sold in Quebec through the website, it must still be in French because it advertises a business operating in the province." LinkIt has always been the goal of the OQLF to reduce English however it could, with the operative word 'could.'
Quebec municipalities wishing to communicate with citizens in English must prove that 50% of the residents are English, an absurd situation where the English community has to be in the majority to be considered a legitimate minority.
This rule is the hallmark of petty vindictiveness and is utterly inexcusable.
And how is this for pettiness....
"A restaurant owner has a warning for other restaurateurs in Montreal: if you get a good review from Trip Advisor, don't advertise it.Getting back to toys, especially those 'talking' types like the infamous Buzz Lightyear, the OQLF has not only banned those toys from being sold in Quebec stores but also online.
The latest complaint filed with the OQLF is for a tiny sticker placed on the front window of The Burgundy Lion, a pub in Little Burgundy.
The language police have no problem with the name of the establishment -- that is protected by language laws. The sticker reads, in letters less than one centimetre high, "Recommended on tripadvisor.ca," and is accompanied by a large logo of an owl.
However the agency says a small sticker, smaller than the palm of your hand and located about knee level in the pub's front window, is in violation of Quebec's laws regarding signage.
The sticker reads, in letters less than one centimetre high, "Recommended on tripadvisor.ca," and is accompanied by a large logo of an owl." Link
That has the result that an English Quebecer cannot order an educational toy for her child no matter what, even online. Is that really the mandate of the OQLF?
"A board game cafe in Montreal, Chez Geeks, received their third complaint last week from the Office Quebecoise de la Langue Française (OQLF) about selling English board games.We all understand that many products have just too small a production run and in many cases are produced by small businesses who cannot afford translation for the minuscule Quebec francophone audience.
The OQLF is targeting a recent English-only ad for a new board game release at the store. They told shop owner, Giancarlo Caltabiano, that in order to sell the English version of the game he needs a French one." Link
The OQLF position is that if we can't have it neither can you.
Let me finish with what I believe is the most telling story of OQLF over-reach, its attempt to get retailers to abandon the infamous 'Boxing Day Sale' a tradition in Commonwealth countries. For this reason, the OQLF wants the holiday to be renamed.
Boxing Day is celebrated the day after Christmas and is a tradition whereby the home is purged of the Christmas mess including boxes and wrapping.
"Quebec's language watchdog is encouraging retailers to do away with the term “Boxing Day” when describing the sales that usually begin Dec. 26.And so the OQLF doesn't want a French-language name for the holiday, it wants to eliminate it because it is an English tradition, an offensive travesty akin to demanding that Halloween be renamed "Nuit de costume et de bonbons."
The OQLF wants retailers and consumers to use "Les soldes de l’après-Noël," which translates to "After Christmas sales” instead.
Come to think of it, considering Quebec's new obsession with separating religion from public life, the OQLF should have suggested that Boxing Day be renamed Les soldes d'après le 25 decembre.'
For these reasons the OQLF has shamed itself and the political masters who continue to indulge its excesses. Having learned from past gaffes that have humiliated Quebec across the globe, the OQLF is mindful but unrepentant, they remain a frustrated band of anglo-bashers looking to inflict pain on the English as a delightful fringe-benefit of their work.
That being said, I am less opposed to the work of the OQLF than most other anglos. I feel that government does have a role in protecting the French language, but when limiting the rights of one group in favour of another it is important to do so in as kind and as gentle manner as possible, something the OQLF ignores.
The OQLF has always viewed its role differently from what we are officially told, inspired by the nasty father of Bill 101, the hateful Camille Laurin who wanted to drum the English out of Quebec by hook or by crook.
It is sad that the OQLF has adopted its underhanded and mean-spirited methods, instead of working to make French respected and implemented in a thoughtful, respectful and coherent manner.
