OLF has gone too far this time: critic

[thirdEye]

Geez, what's all the fuss, you'd think they were banning English or something.

Oh wait! They are banning English.

Welcome to Canada - home of the language nazis.

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http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet ... lf20050609

OLF has gone too far this time: critic
Last updated Jun 9 2005 02:40 PM EDT
CBC News

SHERBROOKE, QUE. – The Townshippers Association says the Charest government must confront Quebec's language police over its application of the language laws.

The Office Québécois de la langue française has ordered the town of Richmond to virtually ban English, the association charges. The Townshippers say the English-speaking minority is being unjustly punished.

Officials from the OLF recently did a routine check at the Richmond municipal offices to see whether the town was applying the language laws.

In a letter, the government department some refer to as the "language police" ordered drastic changes, including:
The town can no longer have a bilingual telephone message.
All employees must speak French in the workplace.
English labels on the fax machine and air conditioner will have to be changed to French.

"This is just another example of the pettiness and the punitive action that [the OLF] seems to constantly take against the English community," says John Mulholland, who is on the executive of the Townshippers Association.

Mulholland has lived in Richmond for the past 20 years, and says this time, the OLF has gone too far.

CBC ARCHIVES - 'French in Quebec: it's a plus'
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-1297-74 ... l101/clip5

French and English people in Richmond have always lived in harmony, and the OLF's decision is a slap to everyone living in the town, Mulholland charges.

The government has to address the problem, he says.

"At some point, the government has to speak with the Office de la langue française and say, 'Listen, there's a way of doing things, and a way of not doing things,'" Mulholland says.

Mulholland says punishing people for speaking English is not the way to nuture a good relationship between French and English communities.