Salut-Bye: CAQ says it won’t ban ‘Bonjour-Hi’
“Bonjour-Hi” will live to see another day.
Three days after the minister responsible for language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, floated the idea of banning it in shops possibly with a law, Premier François Legault has stepped in to say it won’t happen.
“We do not have any intention of adopting a law to ban the use of Bonjour-Hi,” an official in Legault’s office said Monday.
“We prefer to sensitize Quebecers to the issue. There is unanimity in the National Assembly on this question.”
The government’s backpedalling follows widespread ridicule of the idea during the weekend, with critics saying it is impossible to legislate conversations between citizens and store owners.
The Coalition Avenir Québec government still hopes to discourage the use of the expression in favour of a simple Bonjour. But by 9 a.m. Monday, it had returned to Quebec’s traditional position, which is to create incentives rather than legislation.
On Friday, under pressure from Parti Québécois language critic Joël Arseneau, who has accused the CAQ of being soft on language, Jolin-Barrette took a harder line, refusing to rule out legislation to ban the expression.
He said he wanted to follow through on several motions adopted in the legislature during the last few years to encourage the use of just Bonjour.
“I think this (the motions) will have to translate into measures over the coming months,” Jolin-Barrette told reporters.
Asked how he intended to put an end to the Bonjour-Hi expression, Jolin Barrette responded: “Let me see the possibilities. I want to rise to the challenge (of the decline of French) with efficiency, pragmatism and (measures) which are applicable.”
He also quoted data from Quebec’s Office québécoise de la langue française (OQLF), which found the number of Montreal businesses using just a French-language greeting dropped from 84 per cent to 75 per cent between 2010 and 2017.
“I didn’t change my mind,” Jolin-Barrette told reporters Monday at a separate event in Beloeil after the premier’s statement. “I said it is part of my reflection on all the measures that we need to put in place.
“One thing for sure, the government of Quebec will put in place incentives because French is the spoken language in Quebec.
“But I do not intend to legislate solely on the Bonjour-Hi question.”
Asked about his comments Friday, Jolin-Barrette specified the motions adopted in the legislature encourages merchants to make use of just Bonjour.
“I think the government of Quebec has to take all the measures to put in place incentives to ensure people are welcomed in French in different stores,” he said. “That’s what I said Friday as well.”
Jolin-Barrette noted the OQLF does excellent work already in guiding businesses, but he said tourists coming to Montreal and Quebec enjoy the presence of French.
“You know tourists coming to Montreal and Quebec are happy to be greeted with a Bonjour, which is a word recognized internationally, all over world, and reflects the French face of Quebec.
“I think that’s a richness.” He said he will continue preparing an action plan to reinforce the status of French in Quebec. It is to be made public in the coming weeks.
“I’m at the beginning of my reflection about the different measures we will table,” Jolin-Barrette said.
“I did not change position. On Friday, I said I was in reflection and everything is on the table. I am making some clarifications this morning that we will not pass a bill about the Bonjour-Hi question.
“The Quebec government did not change positions. I am making a clarification.”
The Legault government change also follows publication of a Léger poll conducted for the Association of Canadian Studies Monday revealing three-quarters of Quebecers believe Montreal is a bilingual city.