When Erin Davis joined her husband Jeremy Williams to help run his Ladysmith business, Jer’s Auto Service, one of her first to-dos was upping the business’ social media presence.
“He hadn’t posted . . . it had been a long time. So I just started to do it,” she said. She started sharing funny, lighthearted posts to promote the business’s services.
“Yes, we take walk-ins,” read one post, showing security cam footage of a deer poking around in front of the garage.
“Was that an earthquake, or do you need an alignment?” read another post, published on the same day a 3.9 magnitude earthquake hit Ladysmith last month.
And then, last week, Jer’s Auto Service was served a warning from the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), the government agency responsible for ensuring the province’s language laws are being respected.
In an emailed notice, the OQLF said it had received a complaint about the business’ Facebook posts.
“Under Article 52 of the Charter, it is unlawful to make a commercial publication available to the public on a website or social media platform in a language other than French if its French version is not accessible under at least equivalent conditions,” the letter explained.
It said Jer’s Auto Facebook posts did not comply with this rule, and requested the business rectify its posts. The OQLF noted the letter served as a first warning, and that further actions would be taken should it receive another complaint.
“I think it’s kind of funny because [ . . . ] who’s paying attention to what the little garage in Ladysmith is putting on Facebook? We’re just trying to make people laugh ,” Davis said. “I think it’s ridiculous.”
Jer’s Auto was not the only business to receive such a warning last week. Davis said after posting about the warning on Facebook, she heard from at least eight other Pontiac businesses who had all received some form of warning from the OQLF, though she believed Jer’s Auto was one of the few to be reprimanded for their use of English on Facebook.
“The signs are one thing, and I know people get hit with all kinds of stuff,” Davis said. “But I didn’t think Facebook would be an issue, but here we are.”
Davis is bilingual, and she said Williams does his best in French. She said she serves customers in French and offers French invoices, but that when it comes to her social media page, she doesn’t feel that bilingualism is needed.
“It’s not that we’re not providing bilingual services,” she said. “But we’re very busy here. I do [Facebook] on the fly when I have a moment. The majority of our followers are English. Why would I put the text first in French?”
In an email to THE EQUITY, OQLF spokesperson François Laberge clarified the language rules for social media posts made by a business.
“All commercial publications issued by a business regarding products or services intended for the Quebec market must be in French, including those posted on social media. They may also be published in another language; however, the French version must be equivalent and accessible under conditions that are at least as favorable,” Laberge wrote.
He said a business can choose to maintain separate English and French versions of its social media accounts, but that any content published in English must also be published in French.
On Monday, almost a week after Davis first posted on Facebook about the warning, she said she and Williams spent the weekend reading comments, messages, and watching negative comments made about the story on social media.
“Seeing negative comments toward both French and English people has been difficult, because that was never the intention behind any of this. We grew up here. This community is home to us,” the couple wrote in an email.
“Do we find it surprising and frustrating that harmless jokes intended to make people smile became the subject of a warning because they weren’t posted in both languages? Absolutely, it struck a nerve for sure,” their email continued, noting their frustration was never directed at the French language or culture.
“We never intended to offend anyone or create division. And despite everything, we’ll continue trying to bring a little humour and a smile to the people who follow our page, because that has always been the goal.”
