MONTREAL – In what observers are calling an even worse development than ‘Pastagate,’ Quebec’s language police have received a complaint about two hospital employees in Riviere-des-Prairies engaged in a conversation – not in English – but in Creole.

“Before isolating people for talking their language, there’s a lot of other things they could work on,” said Thierry Carries, a Haitian community leader. “If they’re on their break, if they’re talking to each other, talking about something that has nothing to do with work, then I think we have other matters we need to take care of.”

The situation will pivot on the nature of the conversation and to whom it was addressed.

“If people are talking in a private matter, they can use the language they want,” said Jean-Pierre Leblanc, spokesperson for Quebec’s language watchdog. On the other hand, he notes, if workers spoke with patients or had ‘work-related’ conversations in Creole, that would be different.

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But the onus is on the hospital – not the language watchdog – to investigate the circumstances, and failure to take action could draw a maximum fine of $20,000. Additionally, confidentiality rules tie the hospital’s hands: both the complainants and their targets aren’t known to hospital administration.

“It’s problematic for us,” said hospital spokesperson Johanne Gagnon. “Because these complaints are confidential both ways.” The hospital is trying to contact all its employees, explain the situation, and find out what happened.

Leblanc notes that the vast majority of these complaints settle amicably, and fines aren’t common.