Latest news with #OfficeQuébécois
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Quebec language watchdog now says it's OK to use 'go' to support sports teams
MONTREAL — Quebec's language watchdog has changed its tune on whether it's acceptable to use the word "go" to cheer on sports teams. In a new guideline posted in its online dictionary, the Office québécois de la langue française says that while "allez" is the preferred term, it's now 'partially legitimized' to use the English word to show encouragement. Advertisement The flip-flop comes after the office took a hard line with Montreal's transit agency, pressing it for months in 2024 to scrub the word "go" from the electronic signs on more than 1,000 city buses. The watchdog confirmed it had changed its position after The Canadian Press obtained a series of emails through access to information legislation, revealing it gave the transit agency a green light to use 'go' in June. The reversal followed a public outcry on the eve of the Montreal Canadiens' first playoff home game in April, when the Montreal Gazette reported how the transit agency had replaced 'Go! Canadiens Go!' with 'Allez! Canadiens Allez!' to stay on the watchdog's good side. The revelations prompted French-language Minister Jean-François Roberge to intervene, declaring that the expression 'Go Habs Go' is part of Quebec culture, and that any future complaints about the slogan would be dismissed. Advertisement That statement verged on political interference and placed the watchdog in a difficult position, according to one expert. 'The office had to respond to a political order,' said Benoît Melançon, emeritus professor of French literature at Université de Montréal. 'The minister said, 'You will accept this,' so the office had to find a way to accept it.' The transit agency says it hasn't decided whether it will put the word 'go' back on its bus displays. On Wednesday, a spokesperson said the agency is now 'beginning its reflection on the subject.' In an April statement, Dominique Malack, the president of the language office, agreed that the slogan 'Go Habs Go' is anchored in Quebec's history. Still, she went on to say that the word 'go' is an anglicism, and that public bodies have an obligation to use 'exemplary' French, which includes using only French words in their signage. Advertisement Emails released to The Canadian Press show the transit agency asked the watchdog in May, following the uproar, for authorization to start using 'go' again. A month later, on June 6, the language office directed transit officials to its new entry for the word 'allez' in its online dictionary of terminology, a reference guide for the proper use of French in Quebec. The page notes how the anglicism 'go' has been used in Quebec since at least the 1980s and is 'well-established' in common parlance. 'It is considered to be partially legitimized,' the entry says. When asked by The Canadian Press to comment on the newly released email correspondence, the watchdog confirmed it had updated its position. 'The office now considers that a public body can use the interjection go in a context of encouragement … without this compromising the duty of exemplarity incumbent upon it under the Charter of the French Language,' spokesperson Gilles Payer told The Canadian Press in an email. Advertisement Payer confirmed the entry was newly published on May 30. 'The media coverage of the case concerning the use of the borrowed word 'go' in a sports context led the office to officially assess the acceptability' of the word, he said. Melançon, the French literature professor, said the new rationale – especially the term 'partially legitimized' – suggests the office was uneasy with the change. 'This must have given rise to some pretty intense internal debates,' he said. ''Do we take into account what the minister is telling us or do we not take it into account? If we don't take it into account, what are the consequences? If we do, how do we justify changing our minds?'' At least one transit agency official felt dubious about the original complaint, which related to a bus displaying the words 'Go! CF Mtl Go!' in support of Montreal's professional soccer club. She called the issue a 'grey zone' in a June 2024 email to colleagues. Advertisement 'We've been using the word 'go' for years without a problem,' she wrote. 'Are we going to change everything because of one complaint?' But by later that month, the agency had decided to scrap the word, which involved manually updating the display on each of more than 1,000 buses over a period of months. The agency has said no further change will be made before the buses undergo regular maintenance in the fall. The language office has received at least two other complaints about the word 'go' in the last five years, according to a response to a separate access-to-information request. In 2023, someone complained about the slogan 'Go Habs Go' appearing on an outdoor billboard. That complaint was dismissed because the expression is a trademark. Advertisement A similar complaint in 2021 targeted the hashtag #GoHabsGo that appears in oversized letters outside the Bell Centre in Montreal, the home arena of the Canadiens. The person who filed the complaint suggested that to comply with Quebec's language rules, the expression 'Allez les Habitants allez' should appear alongside the English slogan, in larger letters. 'And yes, I'm serious, if the law applies, then apply it! :)' the person wrote. According to the language watchdog, that complaint was resolved following an intervention, though it provided no details. A spokesperson for the hockey team declined to comment. The #GoHabsGo sign remains in place. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2025. Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
CBC
30-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Quebec language office pressed transit agency for months before Habs playoff run
Social Sharing Quebec's language watchdog contacted the Montreal transit agency at least six times in the wake of a complaint about using the word "go" on city buses to cheer on a local soccer team. The watchdog — the Office québécois de la langue française — asked for multiple updates on the agency's efforts to remove the word, and kept the complaint open for nine months until "go" had been scrubbed from more than 1,000 city buses in Montreal, according to emails obtained by The Canadian Press. The correspondence contrasts with the office's public comments responding to an April report in the Montreal Gazette that revealed how the transit agency had replaced the expression "Go! Canadiens Go!" on its buses with "Allez! Canadiens Allez!" to appease the watchdog. The news report, coinciding with the Montreal Canadiens' first home game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, prompted a public outcry and elicited a declaration from French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge in support of the expression "Go! Habs Go!" At that time, the watchdog said it had "contacted the [transit agency] to inform it of the complaint and remind it of its obligations under the French language charter." But the office didn't share details about the length of its review and the number of times it pressed transit officials for updates. The internal correspondence reveals how an adviser for the language office sent at least six emails to the transit agency between May 2024 and January 2025, informing the agency of a complaint and asking about its plans to fix the problem. The documents were obtained under access-to-information law. The complaint, received on April 29, 2024, related to city buses displaying the expression "Go! CF Mtl Go!" – a reference to Montreal's professional soccer club. WATCH | 'Go' has got to go: No more 'Go! Canadiens Go!' on Montreal buses after language watchdog intervenes 1 month ago Duration 2:36 The transit agency initially responded to the language office in June 2024, explaining that such slogans give bus drivers "a way to salute national sports teams." Using the word "go" kept the message shorter and prevented it from scrolling across the buses' electronic displays, the email explained. Still, the agency agreed to remove the word, but warned the process could take several months. In response, the adviser asked why the change couldn't be made "over a few days when the vehicles are in the garage." The transit agency replied that each bus had to have its display changed manually, using a USB key. In July, the language watchdog informed the agency that the complaint would remain open until all the buses had been changed. The adviser then followed up two more times over the fall and winter to request updates. Eventually, the transit agency reported in January that 1,002 of its 1,104 buses had been updated, and the remaining 102 buses were out of service. The language office then agreed to close the complaint, on condition that each of the remaining buses would be updated before returning to service. In an email statement to The Canadian Press, a spokesperson for the language watchdog said the correspondence is "part of a normal process for handling a complaint." The language office never received a complaint about "Go! Habs Go!" and was never informed that the transit agency was planning not to use the word "go" in relation to the hockey team, said Gilles Payer. He said the office would not have pursued a complaint about "Go! Habs Go!," since the expression is a trademark, which does not need to be translated. Context is important when using 'go,' says minister's office A spokesperson for Roberge told The Canadian Press the minister was not aware of the issue until the change was first reported in April. But the documents show his own ministry was informed of the complaint shortly after it was received and intended to participate in the review. According to Quebec's French language charter, complaints involving public bodies must be flagged to the French Language Ministry. The ministry did not respond to questions about its role in response to this complaint. Roberge's spokesperson Thomas Verville said the language office received more than 10,000 complaints last year. "The minister does not intervene in the complaints received" by the office, he said. "That would be political interference." Still, Roberge announced in April that he had held "several discussions" with the language office, and that any future complaints about the expression "Go! Habs Go!" would "be deemed inadmissible." He said the slogan has been used for decades to support the Montreal Canadiens. He also said employees of the language office were receiving threats. Verville said there is a "huge difference" between using the word "go" in reference to the Montreal soccer team as compared to the Montreal Canadiens. He said fans of CF Montréal typically chant "Allez Montréal" during matches, while "Go! Habs Go!" has long been part of Quebec culture. He added Roberge spoke out specifically to defend the expression "Go! Habs Go!," which was not the subject of the original complaint. He did not say whether the minister opposes the use of the word "go" in reference to other sports teams. A spokesperson for the transit agency said it is still in discussions with the language office to "obtain official confirmation that we are allowed to use the word "go" in a sporting context and that we will not be penalized if we do so."
