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The owner of a Montreal pub says he was shocked to receive a letter from the province’s French-language watchdog warning him that a small sticker in the restaurant’s window could contravene Quebec’s language laws.

Paul Desbaillets, who co-owns the Burgundy Lion Pub in the southwest of Montreal, said the business received a warning earlier this week from the Office québécois de la langue française over a beer-coaster-sized sticker that states — in English only — that the establishment has been recommended by users of the popular travel website tripadvisor.ca.

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“The letter said we needed to pay attention to the TripAdvisor sticker — the three-inch sticker — that is in our window,” Desbaillets said. “It said that that the words ‘recommended on’ could be an issue with the language laws in Quebec.”

Desbaillets’ business partner Toby Lyle posted the story on Facebook, where it was widely shared. He included photos of the sticker, which is placed about two feet above the ground next to a much larger, French-only sticker promoting recycling.