Happy Canada Day!!!

[Valka D'Ur]

Look at it from the point of view of a customer who neither speaks nor reads French and may not be local (ie. a tourist from out-of-province). It's not always immediately obvious what kind of business a place is from the outside, never mind the question of being able to read product labels, directional signs, etc. If the language police have insisted that the store's name be only in French, and French signage much larger than English, that would lead to much confusion.

It's very easy to get confused. Just ask my dad, who thought he was buying a can of bananas, when it was really pineapple!

 

[tonberry]

As for me, my opinions and feelings have changed back and forth over the past 30+ years. It's a complex, emotional issue. The one constant that has angered me throughout, though, is that one of the country's two official languages could be considered illegal in any way whatsoever.

You should realize that, while Canada as a whole have two official language, Quebec have only one : french.

 

[bhsup]

I'm not sure having to deal with wrong-language business names is all that stressful for the customers of either languages

It stresses me every time I go into Lowes and see Spanish (aka wrong as this is America) language signs.

 

[Evie]

Look at it from the point of view of a customer who neither speaks nor reads French and may not be local (ie. a tourist from out-of-province).

That's just as true for anyone who is not a local. So by your logic, if we ALLOW English names, that's stressful for people who don't speak English.

It's not always immediately obvious what kind of business a place is from the outside, never mind the question of being able to read product labels, directional signs, etc. If the language police have insisted that the store's name be only in French, and French signage much larger than English, that would lead to much confusion.

Again, that also goes the other way.

Also if the language police is insisting on MUCH larger, they should be fired. The rule is that the moment it's larger, it's okay. (And since in general French has both longer words and longer sentences than English, writing the same sentence in the same font size in both languages will often get the job done just fine.

Re direction signs, we really need to further develop the international sign-ese. It shouldn't matter what language the sign is in; you should be able to understand it from the pictures and numbers alone.

It stresses me every time I go into Lowes and see Spanish (aka wrong as this is America) language signs.

Yeah, but in Canada neither French nor English are "the wrong language"

You should realize that, while Canada as a whole have two official language, Quebec have only one : french.

NOT helping, Tonberry

 

[Valka D'Ur]

If Quebec was an actual separate country (as in not part of another country), it could have whatever the hell official language it wanted. But it's part of a larger country, and so it has the obligation and duty to not prohibit one of the country's official languages.

 

[Evie]

Just as well that it hasn't become prohibited in the 24 hours or so since I last reminded you that it wasn't prohibited

Granted, it'S not for want of trying on the part of past government, but as you're quite correct and the supreme court agreed with you (Quebec can demand French, but cannot forbid other languages so long as French has its place), that's not happening, and it's been not happening for the past 20 or so years.

 

[warpus]

Warpus - of course if you ALREADY have clout with a brand name then changing is silly.

I'm pretty sure Staples had zero presence in Quebec prior to coming in as Bureau en Gros. so they had no brand name clout associated with "Staples" in Quebec, and switching to a French name probably made identification easier initially for customers who had never heard of them (ie, everybody). So in a way it probably made it easier for them to *get* brand name clout in Quebec.

I accept this rationalization. However, it just doesn't seem to happen very often from my experience, in terms of me visiting other countries where other languages are spoken. Businesses usually stick to their original name, even if they don't have much brand recognition wherever they're setting up shop. That's why I think it's a bit silly, if sometimes seemingly warranted. It just really seems like they're doing it to placate a vocal minority rather than doing it for a logistical or business reason.

I'm sure they took a lot of factors into consideration though; their decision wasn't just based on this or that, it was likely based on a whole crapload of reasons. I initially called it silly because I likened it to the renaming to Stop signs in Quebec, which even people from France think is silly.

 

[warpus]

It stresses me every time I go into Lowes and see Spanish (aka wrong as this is America) language signs.

But you guys don't even have an official language. So.. stores will use whatever language people speak where the store is. Since there is such a huge Spanish-speaking population in the U.S., it makes sense for them to use Spanish in some places.. I'm assuming that there was English right beside it though, because otherwise that would be annoying.

Having said that though, there are a couple of stores here where I live with signage that is purely Chinese/Mandarin/whatever, with no English translations. It's annoying, but I generally just stay away from them.. because.. they're obviously not targeted at me.

So are these signs you speak of bi-lingual, or are they for some reason targeted at Spanish speakers only? Cause the first one seems a-okay to me, but the second one would be annoying, especially if it's a larger chain store like Lowes.

 

[Takhisis]

Some people have actually said that the rest of Canada should have a referendum in which we get to decide if Quebec gets to stay... the opposite of the referendum that happened back in 1995. The reasons for this opinion include honest anger toward separatists, transfer payments to a province that sometimes is governed by a party that is fundamentally philosophically disloyal to the greater country, to annoyance with referendum after referendum, and the language laws.

As for me, my opinions and feelings have changed back and forth over the past 30+ years. It's a complex, emotional issue. The one constant that has angered me throughout, though, is that one of the country's two official languages could be considered illegal in any way whatsoever.

All that said, Alberta has its own separatists, and they've even tried to form credible political parties. Thankfully it hasn't worked... so some of those people are among those who joined the federal Reform-Alliance-fake Conservatives, and some have joined the Wild Rose party.

The French Canadians will have the best of it, being finally rid of the Battenbergs, once and for all.

People's Republic of Alberta FTW.

I did not know you have power over Mother Nature!

For you, baby, I could.

It stresses me every time I go into Lowes and see Spanish (aka wrong as this is America) language signs.

But you guys don't even have an official language.

Why don't you like freedom, V?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

People's Republic of Alberta FTW.

I'd move to British Columbia if that happened. Seriously.

For you, baby, I could.

Thanks!

 

[Evie]

Please. As if Alberta would ever be a People's Republic. People's Republic are all about letting everyone else mooch off your hard work (not your money or property, because you have neither)

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The Alberta separatists are basically right-wingers who are much more right-wing than the Conservatives (and I don't mean the Red Tory kind of Conservative). They're the kind of people who got kicked out of the Reform party when Preston Manning realized their narrow, bigoted mindset and the <unmentionable crap> they would say in public made them unelectable, and he dropped them.

They are not nice people, in any possible sense, and if they were to somehow get control of our government, I would leave. It's hard enough navigating the bureaucracy now - it would be nigh-impossible under people like that.

 

[Evie]

Sooo...Theocratic Republic of Alberta?

 

[Takhisis]

Holy, not Theocratic.

 

[Evie]

We could always call it the Holy Albertan Empire.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Don't give Emperor Steve ideas. Our Prime Minister represents one of the Calgary federal ridings, and he does fancy himself as much more than he is. He even ordered the media to call the Canadian government the "Harper Government", as though his party is all there is.

 

[Evie]

I know. We have the choice between democratically challenged, legally challenged and economically challenged with our political parties.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

Holy, not Theocratic.

D'oh! Shoulda told me sooner!

 

[Takhisis]

I know. We have the choice between democratically challenged, legally challenged and economically challenged with our political parties.

Once you get to Level two, you can start making combinations.