New Quebec brand Loblaws, the Asian supermarket chain T&T, is being targeted by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) for disrespecting the French language.
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The food distribution chain, founded thirty years ago in Vancouver, entered Quebec in December by opening its largest store in the country in Montreal. However, while the wind is good for the business and is already planning to open its next store in Brossard, some are already worried about the fate it holds for French.
These soup packets of Japanese origin do not provide customers with instructions in French. Photo Martin Jolicoeur
“I went there out of curiosity and was speechless. No respect for the law. Huge amounts of products in Chinese only. To the point where it is often impossible to know the composition of what is being offered to us,” complains a Montreal resident who decided to call us.
Indecent and disrespectful
“It feels like we’re in another country,” he continues. It’s indecent, even disrespectful. Even more so when you consider that T&T is owned by a local giant like Provigo-Loblaws. These people can’t not know. They have lawyers. You know our laws. I’m surprised no one has raised the alarm yet.”
These “made in Korea” paper towel packages do not provide any information in French or even English. Photo Martin Jolicoeur
The Journal went to the store in the Saint-Laurent district on Tuesday. The latter is adjacent to the headquarters of the Weston family empire (Provigo-Loblaws) in Montreal, not far from the Décarie and Metropolitan highways.
For more than an hour we walked through the huge commercial area, which was almost entirely dedicated to food, kitchen items, cosmetics and other objects, products, books or games of Asian origin.
The “Cosmetic and pharmaceutical products” section includes several products whose container or packaging does not contain any mention in French. This is the case with these creams made in Japan. Photo Martin Jolicoeur
When French is present in the store, we have found that it is actually quite different for quantities of products packaged or labeled in a language other than French (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc.).
The OQLF analyzes
When contacted, the OQLF confirms that it knows T&T well and has already received several complaints from citizens regarding the compliance of products offered in stores. How many complaints? The office refuses to provide further information on this.
However, their number would be sufficient for the body responsible for the application of the French Language Charter to decide to open a file and analyze the situation in more detail.
Without adopting the conclusions of recent research, its spokesperson Chantal Bouchard explains that Quebec companies “must ensure that the inscriptions are present on the product, on its container or on its packaging, as well as on a document or object that accompanies it .” in French.
If you only know French or English, you won’t know where this product comes from. However, a sticker has been placed on the packaging describing the ingredients of the product contained in these sachets. Photo Martin Jolicoeur
During its visit, the Journal found that on several occasions products whose packaging was predominantly written in a language other than French had a sticker attached, usually on the back, with the list of ingredients, allergens and nutritional values in French. Is it alright?
The Charter and Respect
Jean-Paul Perreault, president of the Impératif Français, doesn’t believe so. “It is unacceptable to market in Quebec a product that is not labeled in French, at least not in a size corresponding to another language. It’s a minimum. This requires not only the Charter, but also the most basic rules of respect.”
The President of Impératif Français, Jean-Paul Perreault. Archive photo, QMI Agency
To the same question, the OQLF simply answers: “Inscriptions may be made both in French and in another language, provided that no inscription in another language takes precedence over that written in French or is accessible under more favorable conditions.”
No member of the Loblaws or Supermarchés T&T management contacted by Le Journal would grant us an interview, contenting themselves with emailing a statement from the Montreal branch director, Alexandre Chang.
“We believe,” he said, “in the importance of promoting and protecting the French language, just as we believe in the importance of preserving our own Asian culture here and elsewhere in Canada.” “Maybe not everything is perfect yet, but We will continue to work with our suppliers to remedy the situation and provide all customers with the best possible shopping experience.”
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