Quebec Ruling Strikes Down Law on French Signs

Quebec has no right to tell its shopkeepers that French must be the dominant language on their signs, a court ruled Wednesday, sparking an angry reaction from the Canadian province’s separatist government.

The Parti Quebecois government said it would appeal the Quebec court ruling, which could stir controversy among the French-speaking majority in the Canadian province. French speakers, who make up about 83% of Quebec’s 7.3 million people, have long supported tough language laws as a way of protecting their heritage from North America’s English-speaking majority.

“Our analysis of the ruling leads us to decide to appeal this decision. There are grave errors of law in the judgment,” Linda Goupil, Quebec’s justice minister, said at a news conference.

Quebec Court Justice Danielle Cote said provisions of the so-called Charter of the French Language that stipulate French must be predominant on commercial signs were “inoperative” and “contravened freedom of expression.”

The court was acting on a petition from two antique dealers who sought to keep their bilingual business sign, which bore English words on one side and French in the same size on the other.