Quebec style language laws creeping into New Brunswick?

If one Dieppe resident had his way, Dieppe would be the first city in the province to tell business owners what must be on their signs.

This resident is circulating a petition for the city to create a bylaw forcing business to have bilingual signs.

The reason?  He feels that there are too many English signs.  He thinks govenment should step in and change that.

“We now live in a province where French and English are united for bilingualism and anglophone residents understand that French being a minority language in the region needs the support of laws in order to be as present as the English language,” he said.

When I first heard this on the radio, I couldn’t believe it.  It instantly reminded me of Quebec’s Bill 101.

Governments should not be interfering with the languages that a business owner wants to put on a sign.  Period.  If they want to put up a Chinese sign, go for it.  If they choose to put up an English sign in a French community, so be it.  Personally, I am more concerned with what is sold at the business then what their sign says (or looks like).

One comment, posted on the CBC website, sums it up for me:

Nowhere in the language section of our charter of rights and freedoms mentions anywhere policing language of private individuals, only services offer by government. Stay out of my home, life, and business Mr. LeBlanc-Rioux.

Fortunately, there are people who understand this.

Andreea Bourgeois, director of provincial affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said business owners know their customers the best, so should be responsible for choosing their signing, not politicians.

“It’s in their best interest to adjust to their customers’ needs, including linguistic needs. If the issue is lack of customer service in a particular language, simply regulating the display language of a sign does little to improve customer service,” Bourgeois said. “Therefore, such a bylaw must come from the business community and meet businesses’ and customers’ needs.”