Dear Chantal Machabée,
It is to you that I am writing my letter, because you represent the French-speaking face of the Canadian off the ice.
On March 28, I attended my sixth CH game at the Bell Center this season. I’ve been buying a six-game package for two years. Unfortunately, I will not repeat the experience. For what ? Not because I feel like I’m in Boston, Philadelphia or Toronto because I only hear English everywhere in the stands and corridors. Nor because we no longer even ask non-French-speaking players to try to say anything other than “hello” and “thank you” in our language. Even less because the team will not make the playoffs for a third straight season (I buy the rebuilding plan). It’s simply that I don’t feel respected as a French-speaking CH fan in my experience at the Bell Center.
It begins with the hostess at the entrance to the Bell Center who greets me in English only and who wishes me “ a good evening » after having obviously heard and understood that she had just electronically punched the ticket of a French-speaking amateur.
It continues with the cashier at the restaurant who answers me in English even though I speak to her in French. She understands me, I understand her. We have a bilingual conversation, but each in their own language. I could adapt, I am quite capable of ordering my smoked meat in English. But no, I’m holding my own. She ended up saying “thank you” in French when she handed me my sandwich.
It is then the crowd entertainer, who makes a speech in English during an activity presented on the giant screen. Well, okay, she ended her speech with a “good luck” to the participants. But only after speaking to us for 30-40 seconds in English. Beyond the host, it’s the whole entertainment aspect during breaks and intermissions that is problematic. We’re going well Dancing in Saint-Dilon to remind people that they are in Quebec, but we are mainly made to hear Sweet Caroline and other hits from elsewhere to amuse us. Is French-speaking culture so poor in the eyes of this bad DJ that he feels incapable of entertaining the crowd (mostly) in French?
It is also the National Hockey League (NHL) advertisement on the good behavior that we must adopt as fans, presented only in English (subtitled in French) on the giant screen during the same visit . It should be the other way around. This advertisement is a cartoon. So I don’t understand why it isn’t presented to us in French, with English subtitles. It’s not about shooting two commercials with two teams of actors and thus doubling the costs. No, you just need someone to read a text in the language of the people to whom you want to convey the message.
You will tell me that it is the NHL which produced this advertisement. But how can we understand that no one at the Canadian dared to tell him that that’s not how things happen here? Is the seventh floor of the Bell Center so disconnected from its partisan base?
I love hockey and I love the Canadian. Like many supporters, I have had it tattooed on my heart since I was little. But now, I’m tired of being taken for granted! Effort and consideration towards the French fact are missing. Montreal may have become a more English-speaking than French-speaking city, but the Canadiens’ supporters are found in the four corners of the province, which is still French-speaking.
Chantal, enough is enough !