La Dictée PGL de la Francophonie, which organized a first corporate final on Wednesday evening, took the form of a true declaration of love for French.
The President and CEO of Quebecor, a key partner of the event broadcast by MAtv, took the opportunity to reaffirm his love for the French language, “a precious asset that must be preserved and valued as a language of everyday use and also as a business language .
In the eyes of the businessman and former leader of the Parti Québécois, companies play an important role in protecting and promoting French.
“Since its creation, the company that I have the privilege of managing has always made a point of promoting our culture and our language through its philanthropic activities and its various traditional and digital platforms,” stressed Pierre Karl Péladeau.
This exit comes just days after Canadian National and Air Canada announced that the two companies would comply with the Respect for Quebec’s Official and Common Language Act, also known as Law 96. In particular, this obligation will oblige them to take franking measures.
The dictation, presented in front of an audience for the first time at HEC Montréal, was read first by TVA presenter Pierre-Olivier Zappa and then by Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister for French Language and CAQ member Louis Lemieux.
“[Les dictées] promote listening, concentration and long-term memory. A dictation can also improve the daily lives of our young people,” Mr. Zappa said, citing approximately US$29 million raised to fund various school projects since La Dictée PGL was founded in 1991.
After an initial dictation read out on March 15th to allow participating companies to nominate their champion, the finale of La Dictée PGL presented on Wednesday served as a warning about the state of the language.
“Both verbal and written you have to sort it out sometimes, but above all protect it from bad weather and attacks. The worst evils that await them are apathy and infidelity,” the text entitled “A Polychrome Mosaic” said by name.
This warning follows the famous advertisement of the Coalition Avenir Québec’s “really sick” peregrine falcon, which drew many reactions last week by pointing out various language tricks borrowed from English.
“We left with a touch of humor, but at the same time I think that there are many Quebecers who, hearing this ad a bit in Franglais, will say to themselves: ‘It’s true, sometimes we get away from it,'” had commented the Minister for French Language, Jean-François Roberge.