The QMJHL held a meeting with its 12 teams playing in Quebec on Friday to ensure that all clothing produced was in French, on the sidelines of the controversy sparked by a photo of the Drummondville Voltigeurs published on X.
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Besides the Voltigeurs, another team had already had jerseys printed in English only. The League’s response: sorry, we will have to do others, but this time, in French.
Discussions with general managers and coaches of the circuit also took place on this subject.
The Cecchini circuit has been in crisis management since a photo of the Voltigeurs, where the team’s players were seen wearing t-shirts with unilingual English inscriptions, was decried by the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St -Pierre Plamondon.
- Listen to the debate on the use of French in hockey between Jean-François Baril and Sophie Durocher via QUB :
The minister responsible for the French language, Jean-François Roberge, then reacted the next day by mentioning that he was going to ask the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) to carry out an investigation in order to determine to what extent the LHJMQ respects law 101.
In the locker rooms too?
It now remains to be seen what this investigation will yield.
In the QMJHL, we are still in a certain limbo. Does the new law 101 also apply to locker rooms?
If this were the case, the teams on the circuit would have until 1er June 2025 to ensure that at least two-thirds of the display in these sites is in French.
Based on what our Parliamentary Office revealed on Thursday, it’s a safe bet that this will be the case. Colleague Nicolas Lachance reported that the OQLF asked private schools, such as the Séminaire Saint-François (SSF), to comply with the new law 101 in the locker rooms of its sports teams.
“The general rule regarding public displays and commercial advertising is that they must be in French. They can be made both in French and in another language provided that French appears clearly predominant. The Charter and its regulations do not provide for an exception for changing rooms,” indicated Chantal Bouchard, spokesperson for the Office québécois de la langue française.
In Quebec, several teams would therefore have to comply with these requirements before 1er June 2025, since numerous slogans in English cover the walls of the different locker rooms of the 12 teams on the circuit, established here.