December 13, 1997 Lawyer Grey to challenge 'absurdity' of sign laws By Philip Authier, The Gazette Quebec's commercial sign laws are about to face a new challenge: the absurdity test. Constitutional lawyer Julius Grey plans to argue in Quebec Superior Court in the coming weeks that sending government inspectors out to measure the size of letters or make sure there are twice as many signs in French as in English is absurd. "If this is the only way to determine marked predominance, then it's absurd," Grey said. "And under the law, a regulation can't be absurd." Officially, Grey's challenge, submitted to the court this week, centres on signs posted by a Pointe Claire landscaping and snow-removal company, Landcare Independent Inc. The firm has been hit with warnings from the Office de la Langue Française that the signs on its premises and service vehicles are illegal under Quebec's sign-law regulations. Those regulations stem from Bill 86, the law the former Liberal government passed June 17, 1993, lifting the ban on English on most outdoor commercial signs. Quebec, in passing the law, was conforming to a Supreme Court ruling that said while the province could make French on signs obligatory, it couldn't ban English without violating freedom-of-expression clauses in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court ruled French should have "marked predominance" on signs but left it up to Quebec to define the definition of predominance and how to go about enforcing such rules. The definition of predominance in Quebec today means signs have to have French letters that are twice as big as English letters or that there be twice as many French signs in a store. Grey does not contest the need for predominance, the existence of sign regulations or even the need for the French Language Charter to protect French in a North American sea of English. He will, however, argue the government doesn't have the authority to define predominance, that the notion is subject to interpretation and that Quebec should be more flexible in its definition. The government should also ease up on the inspections. The court also will be asked to rule on whether banning English on signs on trucks and other moving vehicles is a violation of freedom of expression, a rule that has never been tested. Grey will ask the court to rule on a trademark English logo Landcare is using.

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