(Ottawa) Faced with the discontent expressed by Washington with regard to the draft regulation on the language of commercial displays in Quebec, Justin Trudeau’s lieutenant for Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez, responds that the Americans only have to “adapt”.
“The Americans, when they go to Mexico, they will post in Spanish. When they go to Argentina, they will post in Spanish. When they go around the world, they adapt. They are able to adapt. At home, let them adapt in French,” he declared on Wednesday upon his arrival at the Liberal caucus meeting.
According to him, “anyone who wants to come to us” to do business must “understand that it is done in French”.
Mr. Rodriguez was reacting to a letter that the leader of the Bloc Québécois sent to the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, with the aim of “allaying” the fears of the American administration, and in which he announced a visit to Washington in March.
In the missive shared with the media on Wednesday, Yves-François Blanchet notes that American companies adopt the “working or everyday language” used in the different “markets” around the world where they do business.
“We believe that it must be the same in Quebec,” he summarizes.
In the press scrum, Mr. Rodriguez insisted “first of all” to say that the Bloc leader “is not the ambassador of Quebec in Washington nor of Canada.”
“And two, I would remind him that not only are there more Liberal MPs than Bloc members, there were more votes for Liberal MPs than Bloc MPs and that we, the Quebecers, can very well within the Liberal Party of Canada, speak in the name of Quebec, defend the interests of Quebec,” he continued.
Moments later, his colleague Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, insisted that Canada “is a sovereign country” and that it adopts laws that are based on its interests.
“If it is the desire of society to move forward in this direction, that is understandable. I think people respect that. People understand that we need to defend the French fact in Quebec and in Canada,” he declared.
The Biden administration revealed that it had expressed concerns last week about the “potential consequences for American businesses, including small and medium-sized businesses” of the provisions of Law 96 on commercial signage during a meeting between senior officials of the two countries.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative did not specify what its concerns were and did not respond to questions from The Canadian Press sent a week ago.
Storefront businesses in Quebec have until 1er June 2025 to ensure that French occupies “twice as much” space on their window, according to a draft regulation published in the Official Gazette of the Government of Quebec on January 10.