From: evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch)
Subject: Re: "F/E" versus "Bienvenue/Welcome"
Organization: Somewhere just far enough out of Toronto
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 02:55:06 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.034920.25285@pandora.matrox.com> thood@corvus.matrox.com (Thomas Hood) writes:
>Alliance Quebec produces stickers with "F/E"
>written on them, and gives them to shopkeepers,
>suggesting that they post them to indicate that
>they offer service in both French and English.
>These signs are legal.

I'd heard that the OLF had actually spent some time investigating
whether "F/E" could be prosecuted. The result was, of course, since it
wasn't even a proper word, it couldn't be pegged to any one language.
Clever, though as you suggest, overly obscure.

>Re-Action Quebec, in the Eastern Townships,
>has printed signs reading "Bienvenue/Welcome"
>that have been posted by many shopkeepers
>outside Montreal.  These signs are illegal.

>I argue that the second are better than the first.

Some in the Townships have kept their bilingual signs, but placed
bright yellow "INTERDIT!" stickers which (barely) conceal the English
portions. I like this method best of all. They're defiant, embarrasing,
and perfectly legal.

The economy of Quebec is bad enough these days. The last thing a small
businessman needs is distractions without police and courts, not to
mention a hefty fine for breaking the language laws. So a solution which
is defiant and legal probably has a hefty advantage over one which is not.

>1) Clarity
>
>The meaning of "F/E" is not obvious.  An unscientific
>survey by the Gazette showed that the F/E symbol was
>seldom understood.

>In contrast, "Bienvenue/Welcome" is self-evident.

You can teach the meaning of interdit to even the most stubborn
unilingual Anglo in very little time. Even if you don't know what it
means, the context in which it's displayed makes it pretty clear.

>2) Warmth
>
>Whereas "F/E", once understood, is cold and political,
>"Bienvenue/Welcome" is warm and personal.  This
>is more advantageous for shopkeepers, who want to
>attract customers, and for rights activists, who
>have something warm and cuddly to defend.

Certainly Bienvenue/Welcome is warmer than "INTERDIT!" :-)

Rights activists, if they need something warm and cuddly to defend, can
talk to Steve Potter's children ;-)

>3) Effectiveness
>
>Law 178 hides English Quebec from view in order to
>make English Quebecers feel uncomfortable on their own
>streets.  The purpose of the signs is to counteract
>Law 178.
>
>First, contravening it with the word "welcome"
>invites the language police to make fools of themselves
>by applying the law.

Making fools of themselves has never stopped the language police before.
Why would it work now? If anything, it would re-enforce the beliefs of
francophones who believe the anglos still dominate.

The "INTERDIT!" signs, shown in a news report, were often put on by
francophone storeowners who wanted to protest *any* restrictions on how
they sell their wares. It makes crystal clear what has been done to
their abilities to express themselves the way they want.

Fuether, using the INTERDIT! stickets is  the least expensive route. Not
only is it legal, but you don't have to change the original bilingual
signs -- just put the stickers over the offending words.

>Clearly, the "Bienvenue/Welcome" signs are better than
>the "F/E" signs.

My favourite work-around was from the RE/MAX agent in the townships
which registered the (gibberish) French company name of

Re'al Est Ate

which is now in large type on all its signs. Perfectly legal.

-- 
 Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd., located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
         evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!utzoo!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504
   Said Captain Jean-Luc Picard to the tailor at his machine: "Make it sew!"
Newsgroups: can.politics