MONTREAL - Signs proclaiming an employee’s stance on language issues should not be posted on the window of a métro station ticket booth, Montreal’s transit authority says.



The Société de transport de Montréal was responding to a complaint from a subway user who came upon a printed sign at the Villa Maria métro station Wednesday: “Au Québec c’est en français que ca se passe!” (Roughly translated: “In Quebec, we do things in French”).



STM spokesperson Marianne Rouette said it was not an official STM sign.



The ticket-taker who put up the sign “will be met and if necessary, appropriate measures will be taken,” Rouette said.



“By posting the sign, the (employee) expresses his personal political opinion, which is not acceptable to the STM.”



Jessica Rodrigues, who photographed the sign, said she found the sign insulting.



“It was very aggressive. It basically says if you don’t speak to me in French, I will not serve you.”



She said she did not speak to the employee “because I did not want to create a problem in public.”



Thursday morning, the sign was gone. But there was a report Thursday night that the sign had been put up again.

Rouette noted that, under Bill 101, the STM is not allowed to require its employees to know a language other than French.

There can be exceptions to the Bill 101 rule, in cases where “the nature of the duties requires such knowledge."

But Rouette said the STM studied the issue and “came to the conclusion that it was not necessary for drivers or booth tellers to speak a language other than French.”



“But that does not mean an employee should refuse to serve someone who does not speak French,” she said.



“He has to serve the client any which way he can find (gestures, drawings, showing maps, list showing fares, etc.) and he has to do so with respect.”



Rodrigues said she has never experienced language problems with STM workers.



“I reply in the language that they speak to me in,” she said. “I’m perfectly bilingual. I’m not pro-English or pro-French, I’m not taking sides.”



She said the STM “should accommodate customers. People are paying, they should be served in the language they want, especially for something that’s public in a city that’s very bilingual.”



Even if an employee “does not speak English, he should try to (answer questions in another way), but not be so aggressive and put up a sign.”



In June, Montreal Impact soccer player Miguel Montano alleged that when he spoke with a métro ticket-taker in English, he was told he needed to speak French and his money was refused.



In July, an STM customer filed a complaint after two métro ticket agents allegedly told him: “We don’t serve English people.”



ariga@montrealgazette.com

Twitter:@andyriga



