Mayor makes case for French-only greetings
The much-lampooned bilingual greeting of “Bonjour-hi” should come to an end in Montreal, according to the city’s mayor.
“People come to Montreal knowing it’s a French city. Although we want to be welcoming to everybody, we should be proud and we should encourage people to only say ‘Bonjour,’” Valérie Plante told reporters earlier this week.
Her comments arrive on the heels of a new study conducted by the Office québécois de la langue française that found people shopping in Montreal are greeted in French only 71 per cent of the time, down from 84 per cent in 2010.
“To be honest, it didn’t happen to me, but I think it’s important to ask the person to speak French,” Plante said Tuesday. “We’re in Quebec; the only official language is French. We need and we should be offering services in French. If the person isn’t fluent, then we have to make sure the store accompanies the employee in getting French right.”
The use of “Bonjour-hi” has courted controversy for years, and was even referenced in a Saturday Night Live sketch in 2020, but the study found the use accounted for 12 per cent of cases in the city, up from four per cent in 2010.
“For me, it’s an advantage to say ‘Bonjour,’ and I think people like this,” Plante said. “I don’t think people feel less liked, appreciated or welcome if we don’t add a word in English. For me, I think we have to appropriate the ‘Bonjour,’ because in Montreal, it’s an international city. There are lots of tourists and people who come from around the world. We say ‘Bonjour.’”
Despite the decline in French-only greetings, the study also found that customers were able to be served in French 98 per cent of the time.
“Trained observers” headed out to businesses to conduct the research and record the language in which they were greeted and served. All told, the observers made more than 10,000 visits to 7,314 locations.
In January, the Société des alcools du Québec issued a reminder to employees not to use the “Bonjour-hi” greeting, after Mirabel MP Jean-denis Garon said that he’d received the welcome at a Montreal liquor store.
“Shouldn’t Quebec state corporations set an example?” Garon posted to X, formerly Twitter. “French is our only official language.”
French Language Minister Jean-françois Roberge also issued a statement following the publication of the study, noting that the results are proof that Quebecers need to remain vigilant about protecting the language.