[Jughead]

http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10450031

$1:

A group of six multi-national retailers are set to take on Quebec's language authorities in court.

The Office Québécois de la Langue Française wants them to add a generic French term to their names.

Best Buy, Costco, the Gap, Old Navy, Guess and Walmart have been engaged in testy discussions with the OQLF over their repeated requests for a French term to go along with their English brand names.

Not sure what the language police plan to accomplish by going to court on this.

I'm not a law expert, but I believe that brand names and/or registered trademarks cannot be altered. Therefore in this case it appears that the language police have bitten off more than they can chew. They clearly do not have a case. I also recall that the language law although restrictive and discriminatory, makes exceptions for English only brand names and registered trademarks. Not sure what law the language police will use when fighting this in court. Their case right now doesn't look very promising. It may actually backfire. When the retailers win their case, other retailers will see the victory as an opportunity to start putting up English only signs.

[jambo101]

Thats some heavy hitter retailers, the government may back down on this one but i doubt it will do much for the little guy.
Could get interesting if neither of the two sides back down as Quebecs 6+ million inhabitants dont really constitute much more than a drop in the bucket to these global enterprises and if pushed it would be an interesting turn of events if they all closed up shop and left..

[Jughead]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/10/13/french-language-english-companies.html?cmp=rss

$1:

Some of the world's largest retailers are fighting for the right to keep their identity intact after Quebec's French-language watchdog demanded they rework their brand names to fit the French-language charter.

Costco, Best Buy, Gap, Old Navy, Guess and Wal-Mart have asked Quebec's superior court whether the Office Québécois de la langue française (OQLF) has the right to demand such changes to their trademarks.

http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10450536

$1:

A French nationalist lobby group is calling on people to boycott several big retailers that refuse to add a French description to their name.

Mario Beaulieu is president of the Société St-Jean Baptiste. He says he has difficulty understanding why a group of multi-national retailers would refuse to use a French generic in their name.

"It's not a huge demand," he says, "it is not like we are asking them to change their name completely to French."

Best Buy, Costco, the Gap, Old Navy, Guess and Walmart are going before a Quebec Superior Court judge next week to argue against repeated requests by the province's language authorities to use a French generic in their name.

I still don't get it. None of these establishments are breaking any laws since brand names and registered trademarks are exempt from the language laws. Wonder what the language police will use in court to back up their case? Looks like they don't have a leg to stand on.

[2Cdo]

Jughead, Quebec's language gestapo have never needed common sense to interfere with their jack-booted nonsense.

[RUEZ]

It's about time someone stood up to this BS.

[Bodah]

Jughead Jughead:

I still don't get it. None of these establishments are breaking any laws since brand names and registered trademarks are exempt from the language laws. Wonder what the language police will use in court to back up their case? Looks like they don't have a leg to stand on.

Since this is about language they'll take it all the way to supreme court making as much noise as they can all the way, then use the not withstanding clause to over-ride Canadian Trademark and Copyright law citing Quebec is special, different, unique, fragile, bla bla bla.

By the way isn't Le Chateaux a chain business from Quebec ? Maybe we should force chain stores outside of Quebec to call it the Castle, so people are aware they are in an english Province otherwise they'd never now, sure there would be french employees and french signs, labels in the stores but if it isn't on the front of the store good lord they'd have no idea, the poor schleps.

I hope the retailers take it all the way. They certainly have the funds and legal teams to do it.

[Thanos]

WalMart once shut down an entire store in Quebec when the workers tried to unionize. Going by this precedent they'll shut down every store they have there if the PQ tries to interfere with them too much. The late, lamented Blockbuster Video also threatened to close down all their stores too once when the PQ got too uppitty with this language crap. The separatists are going to get their faces slapped hard by these companies if they push this too far. The stores won't stay there, where they're already faced with much less of a profit margin there than in other markets thanks to Quebec's idiotic taxes and bureaucratic over-regulation, if the PQ piles on with more of their rabble-rousing racist political bullshit.

[Bodah]

I'd piss my self laughing my ass off if I ever see the news headlines one day when a major retailer in Quebec closes up shop, and leaves the province because of their offensive English Trademarks on the front of the stores. While everything else inside the store is French.

I think what they really find offensive is the Fact it's English Companies serving the people, feeding the local economy, supplying jobs all over the province. I guess if they put a French name on it, it will fool people thinking it's a French company.

[Unsound]

It's times like this that I really wish we had a few Quebec nationalists posting here, just so someone could try to explain the kind of thinking behind stuff like this, cause I simply can't comprehend it.

[Jughead]

Bodah Bodah:

Since this is about language they'll take it all the way to supreme court making as much noise as they can all the way, then use the not withstanding clause to over-ride Canadian Trademark and Copyright law citing Quebec is special, different, unique, fragile, bla bla bla.

I'll bet you're right. However in this case, we're dealing with international laws, specifically for registered trademarks and brand names. The language police have gotten way out of their jurisdiction on this. Quebec language laws, although discriminatory make exceptions for both registered trademarks and brand names, that is why I'm confused on this. Even with Quebec's language laws, these signs are perfectly legal. I guess the lawyers for the language police will realize this when preparing their court case, and then will either have to back out or lose their case. Either way, it makes the Language Police Agency look incompetant as it appears that they are not familiar with the laws they are trying to enforce. This one surely takes the cake.

[jambo101]

Here in Quebec the government is obsessed with ridding the Province of any aspect of the English language/culture, as a result over the last 40yrs a vibrant Anglo co culture has been reduced to irrelevance,only 8% Of Quebeckers now claim English as their mother tongue, with that few Anglos youd think the government would relent on the suspending of civil rights and freedoms directed toward any one not French but alas the newly installed separatist governments first order of busness is to rewrite/toughen up bill101 and strengthen the Office de la langue Francaise by adding 60 more language police, evidently the English language is running rampant in Montreal
An example of the total stupidity of the language issue.=

$1:

A woman warns the owner of a Quebec pet store she might get in touch with language authorities because Peekaboo, the parrot she wanted to buy, didn't speak French.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/10/22/f-quebec-language-laws-bill-101.html

Stories like these are almost a daily occurrence
http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436569

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/07/13/19984336.html

With all this hate for all things English and by default Canadian why is Quebec still a part of Canada? Mr Harper get these ungrateful miserable whining malcontented welfare bums and and their pathetic province out of my country.

[canuckns]

In some aspect I'd like to see the OQLF win the case and these stores inform the Quebec government publicly that they will be closing all of their stores in Quebec within the next year.

See how fast the OQLF or the Quebec gevernement does an about face. All the lost revenue and jobs.

[QBall]

canuckns canuckns:

In some aspect I'd like to see the OQLF win the case and these stores inform the Quebec government publicly that they will be closing all of their stores in Quebec within the next year.

See how fast the OQLF or the Quebec gevernement does an about face. All the lost revenue and jobs.

Doing an about face in that situation is the logical thing to do, however Quebecers do not function on logic, they work on pure emotion. So if you think they're going to back down in a game of puffy chest prepare to be disappointed, again. Plus with the rest of Canada supporting their sorry welfare asses what would they care if they lost revenue?

[Lemmy]

QBall QBall:

sorry welfare asses

Wow.

[jambo101]

If the Separatist government runs into a staunch rightwing American CEO of Walmart who has the attitude that he aint gonna get pushed around by a bunch of French commie pinkos from bu.tf.ck nowhere Quebec may well indeed lose all 50 of its Walmart stores along with many other big box stores involved in the court case.
Go Walmart were rootin for ya..