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A number of major retailers, including Walmart, Costco and Best Buy, went to Quebec Superior Court last fall to challenge a new offensive by Quebec’s language watchdog, the Office québécois de la langue française. The Office has informed companies with trademarked English names that they need to add a generic French term to their signs. For example Walmart would become Le magasin Walmart.

The companies argue their brand names are exempt from the language law, and it will be left to a judge to decide.

Revenu Québec, which is responsible for the Registraire des entreprises, said cases like Mr. Ménard’s are common. Every year, 9% of requests to register new companies are rejected on the grounds that they do not respect Bill 101, spokeswoman Marie-Pierre Blier said. That amounts to 12,000 rejected names a year.

Like Walmart and Best Buy, Mr. Ménard could avoid trouble by adding a little French to his company name, she said. Something like Désigner graphique Wellarc would do the trick, she suggested.

Mr. Ménard, who will begin studying management at CEGEP this fall, has been approached by anglo-rights groups since he went public with his complaint.

But he has no interest in becoming a poster boy for English rights. Asked by an English-speaking commenter on YouTube to translate his video, he declined. “This message stays in French only,” he wrote. “I understand that it would help you, but my message mainly goes to French quebecquers (sic).”

And though he is fiercely opposed to the PQ government, he describes himself as a right-of-centre sovereigntist. He believes sovereignty is the best way for Quebec to ensure the survival of its language and culture.

With no referendum on the horizon, however, he is most passionate these days about doing business without government interference. “People tell me to change the name and stop complaining, but for me it’s a matter of principle,” he said. “I want my rights to be respected.”

National Post

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