With many residents of Quebec still dealing with the impacts of flooding and others protesting for the right to . . .
express their religious beliefs, the Quebec government is turning its attention to one of the most pressing issues of the day – how people choose to greet one another.
On Oct. 4, Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, Simon Jolin-Barrette, floated the idea of banning the popular greeting “Bonjour-hi” used by many Quebec business owners.
While Premier François Legault’s office quickly poured cold water on the idea, it shows that the push to openly discriminate against non-Francophones is alive and well in the CAQ government.
“I didn’t change my mind,” the archbishop of bigotry, Jolin-Barrette said on Oct. 7.
Don’t forget that Jolin-Barrette is the same brilliant mind that spearheaded Bill 21 – the law that bans public servants from wearing religious garb – as well as Bill 9, which arbitrarily cut immigration numbers.
Back then, he was known as the Minister of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusiveness, but the ministry itself underwent a name change to reflect the fact that the government isn’t so much interested in “Inclusion” as it is the opposite.
Jolin-Barrette said that “all measures” will be on the table when it comes to brainstorming ideas for promoting the French language.
While it’s disappointing that the new minister is someone who already has a proven track record of discriminating against minorities, he’s not alone.
Two years ago, the National Assembly voted 111-0 in favour of a motion that encouraged store owners to use “Bonjour” instead of “Bonjour-hi.”
The idea that the government can regulate the greetings used by its citizens is beyond absurd, but just for fun, let’s examine what that might look like.
Would the government hire secret shoppers who spend the day going from store to store waiting for a shopkeeper to slip up and utter those two horrible letters – h and i?
Hopefully the Quebec government isn’t seriously considering cementing it’s place as the laughing stock of provincial governments (although Ontario is giving them a run for their money) by spending time and public funds policing greetings.
This is a province that can barely maintain it’s road network but we can spend money on this kind of thing?
What if an Anglophone walks into a depanneur and is greeted with “bonjour” and responds with “hi”?
Even with this government, which has shown a propensity for heavy-handedness, fining someone who responds in English would be beyond the pale.
This example shows just how useless this whole endeavour would be.
If the stated goal of banning “Bonjour-hi” is to promote the French language and people still respond and converse in English, then it’s clearly not doing its job.
But that’s not really the true intention of this harebrained idea.
It’s to find any possible way to stick it to those pesky Anglos that are degrading Quebec culture.
Chris Lowrey
