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“So we have to take down certain signs, in particular for directions. For example, turn right for such and such a department,” Cloutier said. The bilingual sign pointing anglophones toward X-rays will now simply read “rayons X.” Signs indicating visiting hours will also be in French only.

‘Get out. That’s the message I’m getting’

News of the changes prompted anger among Gaspé’s anglophone community. Margo Adams, who lives in the town of Gaspé and is a nurse at Hotel-Dieu, signed an online petition Thursday calling for the Office to be eliminated.

“All the signs are bilingual. It’s bigger in French,” she said. “But in the town of Gaspé, there are a lot of people who speak English. As far as I’m concerned, with the Office de la langue française, enough is enough.”

She said older anglophones who have not learned French will be affected by the signs’ removal. They are being told to seek out English-speaking staff, distinguishable by a yellow strip on their identification cards.

“Yes we have a yellow strip on our cards, but most of us have it in our pockets,” Adams said. “How are they supposed to know?” She said the message to anglophones is that they are not welcome.

“Get out. That’s the message I’m getting,” she said. “If you don’t want to live in Quebec and speak French, just get out of the province.”

Jean-Pierre Le Blanc, a spokesman for the Office, said he could not disclose whether the order stemmed from a public complaint or a routine hospital visit by inspectors.