AcrackdownbylanguageinspectorsonChinatownmerchantsandaJewish
tombstonemakerwillprovidehelpfulammunitionforalegalchallengeagainst
Quebec'scommercial-signlaw,aMontreallawyersays.
"Ifwehadneededanillustrationofhowthelawcanbeabsurd,
theycouldn'thavedoneabetterjobforus,"constitutionallawyer
JuliusGreysaidinaninterviewyesterday.
GreyhasfiledamotioninQuebecSuperiorCourtseekingtochallenge,
ongroundsof"absurdity,"regulationsstemmingfromBill86,
thelawtheformerprovincialLiberalgovernmentpassedin1993tolift
thebanonEnglishonmostoutdoorcommercialsigns.
Inpassingthelaw,QuebecwasconformingtoaSupremeCourtrulingmade
fiveyearsearlier.
ThatrulingheldthatwhiletheprovincecouldinsistthatFrenchappear
onsignsandcouldevenrequireFrenchtohavea"markedpredominance"
overotherlanguagesonsuchsignsitcouldn'tbanotherlanguagesaltogether
oncommercialsigns.Anysuchoutrightban,thehighcourtsaid,wouldviolate
freedom-of-expressionguaranteesintheCharterofRightsandFreedoms.
ThereplacementlegislationQuebecintroducedfouryearsagodoesrequire
Frenchtohave"markedpredominance"overotherlanguagesoncommercial
signs.
Andprovincialregulationsdefinethatasmeaningthatsignshaveto
haveFrenchlettersthataretwiceaslargeaslettersofotherlanguages
orthattheremustbetwiceasmanyFrenchsignsastherearesignsinother
languagesinanygivenstore.
Grey'schallengetothelawhastodowiththoseregulations.
It'spatentlyabsurd,heargues,forinspectorswiththeprovincialCommission
deProtectiondelaLangueFrançaisetobebusyingthemselvesmeasuring
thesizeoflettersonsignsormakingsuretherearetwiceasmanysigns
inFrenchasinanotherlanguage.
Yesterday,Greycalledthecontroversiesthathavearisenovertworecent
attemptsbythecommissiontoenforcethoseregulations"godsends"
forhischallenge.
Inthefirstsuchattemptedcrackdown,L.Berson&Fils,a76-year-old
businessonSt.LaurentBlvd.thatmakesgravestonesforMontreal'sJewish
community,wastoldbythecommissionthatthefiveHebrewcharacterson
itssignweretoobig.
Thewhitesigncontainshiscompany'snameandthewords"monuments"
inFrenchandHebrew.WhiletheFrenchwordismuchlonger,thefiveHebrew
charactersareslightlytaller.
AfterastormofprotestandcriticismevenfromLouiseBeaudoin,the
provincialministerinchargeoflanguagelawsthecommissionbackeddown.
ButitlateremergedthatmanymerchantsinChinatownhadreceivedletters
fromthecommissiontellingthemtomaketheFrenchtwiceaslargeasthe
Chineseontheirsigns.
Thattooprovokedafloodofdenunciationsevenfromardentnationalists
likeGuyBouthillier,presidentoftheSociétéSt.JeanBaptiste,
andBrunoRoy,formerheadoftheUniondesEcrivainsQuébécois.
"Iaskmyselfwhetherthereissomebodyatthecommissionwholacks
judgmentorintelligence,"BouthilliersaidshortlybeforeChristmas.
"Thisisridiculous."
Roysuggestedthelawwasbeing"appliedstupidlyandwithoutthinking."
Greyexpressedasimilarsentimentyesterday,butstressedthatitis
theregulationsthemselvesthatareabsurdnotmerelytheirapplication.
"ThiscouldnotpossiblybewhatwasmeantbytheSupremeCourt,
orevenbythelegislator,whenitsaidthat(alawrequiring)`markedpredominance'
(ofFrench)isfine,"hesaid.
"Thesecasesareobviouslygodsendsforthetypesofargumentwe're
making."
It'sparticularlyridiculous,hesuggested,totrytoapplyastrict
"two-thirds/one-thirdrule"requiringFrenchletterstobetwice
aslargeasthoseinanotherlanguagewhentwodifferentalphabetsareinvolved,
Greyadded.
"Alphabetstakeupdifferentamountsofspace.Areyougoingto
lookdown,oracross?It'sjustnotsomethingthatlendsitselftothat
typeofregulation."
Therealtestof"markedpredominance"shouldbetheextent
towhichFrenchsignsprevailthroughoutMontrealasawholenottheextent
towhichFrenchispredominantwithinasinglesign,Greysuggested.
AllthepredominantlyChinesesignsinChinatown"donottakeaway
fromthemarkedpredominanceofFrenchsignsinMontreal,"hesaid.
971228cityJG.htmSaturday,February20,1999