The SAQ management still feels obliged to call its employees to order: the use of “Hello, Hi” is banned from the network. Bloc MP Jean-Denis Garon, who has just suffered an affront in a Montreal branch, is at the origin of this new recall.
“The use of this formula is neither suggested nor encouraged by the management of the SAQ,” reacted the state-owned company on Thursday afternoon in a message published on its site a few hours after the first call from the Newspaper.
On Sunday, the representative of Mirabel in the House of Commons, Jean-Denis Garon, heard many “Hello, Hi” and “Next, Next” during his visit to the SAQ branch at the Jean-Talon market in Montreal .
The Bloc Québécois elected official questioned the SAQ on X. Response: “We make sure to issue a reminder to the employees of this branch.”
In interview with THE Newspaper, this week, Jean-Denis Garon wanted to go further. It’s not normal that we have to rehearse so much, he said, adding his voice to the concert.
“We don’t welcome people in English! We can speak to them in English, it’s a question of respect, but we should never welcome them in English,” the economics professor loses his temper.
- Listen to the interview with Jean-Denis Garon, MP for Mirabel for the Bloc Québécois, on Sophie Durocher’s show via QUB :
Everyone has their share of responsibility – even the SAQ – to keep the metropolis attractive, he says. Without the richness of French and its culture, what distinguishes Montreal from Milwaukee or Madison, Wisconsin?
Quebec institutions should set an example, according to the MP. “Tourists are intelligent enough to understand, let’s not take them for fools,” he laughs.
Not a first
The use of “Bonjour, Hi” at the SAQ was already making headlines in 2019. At the time, the Legault government refused to say whether it was going to require the SAQ to greet its customers only in French.
Thursday, it was the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, who went to bat. “This incident demonstrates that we must be vigilant,” he told the Newspaper while he participated in his party’s caucus in Sherbrooke.
The SAQ was very quick to react on Thursday, which shows that the problem is taken seriously. The vice-president of sales, Isabelle Dufour, had already indicated to NewspaperWednesday evening, that she ensured “that a reminder was made to the employees of the branch” of the Jean-Talon market.
Who will give‘example?
In 2017, members of the National Assembly voted unanimously to ask merchants to abandon the “Hello, Hi” formula to greet customers.
At the Lionel-Groulx Foundation, we find it unacceptable that SAQ employees still welcome customers in this way today.
Myriam D’Arcy has headed the Lionel-Groulx Foundation since 2020. She has been involved in the nationalist movement for more than 20 years.
photo taken from the Facebook page of the Lionel-Groulx Foundation
The state-owned company and its employees have a duty to set an example with regard to the use of the French language, underlines the director, Myriam D’Arcy. She recalls that it is the only official and common language of Quebec.
Reassured by the SAQ’s response, she is delighted to know that in the coming days, management will remind all of its employees that it is essential to prioritize French in its branches.
But like Minister Roberge, Myriam D’Arcy remains vigilant. “I also invite the SQDC to carry out checks and ensure that French is indeed the welcome language in its branches,” she said.