QUEBEC’S LOW ROAD ON USING ‘HI’

Quebecers have a reputation for being prickly about protecting their culture. That’s obviously a good thing, too, given that la belle province is surrounded by people who are more likely to speak English at home and buy tickets for a Hollywood blockbuster rather than swoon over what most North American residents would refer to as a foreign film.

Still, there are occasions when such sensitivities are taken too far. The intension may be just, but the vigorous defenders of Quebec’s way of life sometimes come off looking thin-skinned, or worse, downright petty.

The latest perceived offence to Frenchlanguage promoters is the tendency of some Quebec store clerks to use the phrase “BonjourHi” when welcoming patrons. The salutation is seen by many Quebecers as yet one more example of the creeping prevalence of English, but surely the greeting serves an important purpose. In a metropolitan city such as Montreal, the expression quickly informs the shopkeeper in which language the customer would like to conduct business.

As important as it is to preserve the Quebec culture, surely there’s no harm in acknowledging the preferences of the customer — it’s the shopper, after all, who is going to keep the doors open, not politicians far removed from reality or shop clerks with a rigid adherence to one language over another.

Besides, use of the phrase “Bonjour-Hi” conveys a certain sense of welcoming, of sincere hospitality.

As proof of how much currency these language quarrels enjoy in Quebec’s halls of power, it is worth observing the province’s National Assembly’s unanimous adoption last Thursday of a motion “inviting” merchants and their employees to “warmly greet” customers with “Bonjour” only, implicitly dispensing with the “Hi.” An earlier version of the motion had termed the greeting an “irritant.”

“The anti-Hi motion is purely symbolic, and has no legal effect. Still, surreal as all this may seem, the assembly’s unanimous adoption of the motion represents a victory for anglophobes, since its underlying principle is that the use of English in public in Quebec, while legally tolerated, is to be discouraged,” observed Montreal Gazette columnist Don Macpherson. Well said.

Politicians are entitled to their viewpoint, of course — just like anybody else. The most sage advice was offered up not by an elected official, however, but by a Quebec snowbird who regularly vacations in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. There, he noted in a letter to the Montreal Gazette this week, many merchants use the greeting “Bonjour-Hi” to welcome the many Quebecers who flock to the city for part of the year.

“I’m ashamed by the politicians in Quebec City who seem to be unaware that the signal they are sending is fundamentally wrong, short-sighted, bad for business and insulting to English speakers,” wrote Chuck Luffer in his letter.

“In Fort Lauderdale, the message to Frenchand Spanish-speakers is that they are welcome and appreciated. Even the parking meters are in English, Spanish and, yes, French.”

Hopefully, Quebecers will listen to the wisdom of people such as Luffer, rather than politicians who pander to narrow mindedness.

The signal they are sending is fundamentally wrong, short-sighted, bad for business and insulting to English speakers.