QUEBEC DECLARES ENGLISH QUEBECERS SECOND CLASS

THIS ACT BY THE QUEBEC POLITICIANS MAKES IT CLEAR THAT ENGLISH SPEAKING QUEBEC RESIDENTS ARE NOT EQUAL TO FRENCH SPEAKING QUEBEC RESIDENTS. IT DECLARES THAT CANADIANS WHO LIVE IN QUEBEC ARE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS.

THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH THIS IS TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ONLY WHERE YOU ARE TREATED WITH RESPECT. IF THE PEOPLE SERVING YOU REFUSE TO RESPOND IN ENGLISH, LEAVE YOUR PURCHASE THERE AND SHOP ELSEWHERE. 

QUEBEC — The National Assembly is formally asking Quebec's merchants to "warmly" greet their clients with the word "Bonjour," and drop the old standard "Bonjour-hi."

A resolution to that effect, sponsored by the Parti Québécois, sailed through the legislature Thursday morning following a short debate over semantics.

The vote was 111 for and no opposition, which means the Liberals, Coalition Avenir Québec and Québec solidaire MNAs all endorsed it.

The adoption followed a highly unusual "live" negotiating process over the wording of the motion between Premier Philippe Couillard and PQ leader Jean-François Lisée.

It was Lisée who kicked off the debate Wednesday when he invoked new Statistics Canada data on the level of bilingualism in the workplace to conclude the old way of merchants greeted customers had become the symbol of widespread bilingualism in Montreal.

He said Bonjour-Hi had become an "irritant," implying French and English were on an equal footing.

The original wording of the motion was that the legislature declare the word Bonjour-Hi an irritant, a expression first uttered by the Liberal minister responsible for language, Marie Montepetit, in an interview with TVA this month.

But in their highly unusual debate on the issue, which monopolized daily question period for a second day in a row, Couillard got the PQ to back down on the word "irritant," after saying it implies the government would soon be sending inspectors to police the spoken word.

Couillard said when it comes to language, he favours incentives and not coercion.

"We're not interested in getting involved in a Pastagate 2," Couillard said in reference to a story a few years ago about Quebec's language inspectors objecting to Italian words on a menu, which made international headlines.

The final wording of the adopted motion states the National Assembly reaffirms French is the official and common language of Quebec and that it recognizes 94 per cent of Quebecers understand French.

That it notes the word Bonjour is one of the most recognized words in the French language and that it "magnificantly reflects the hospitality of Quebecers."

"As a result, it (the National Assembly) invites all merchants and their employees who have contact with local and international clients to warmly greet them with the word Bonjour."

pauthier@postmedia.com