Canada to firmly re-assess its status as a British colony

[Valmy]

Perhaps not. But on the other hand, I dispute that a law that applies to all advertising and signage in a province is such a minor thing - indeed, yesterday I had very convincing proof of it, as I was at a meeting in which a major retailer listed Quebec as "last choice" for expansion due to entry costs imposed by these coerceive measures.

I guess I do not really understand that.  If you are going to enter into any market you have lots of hoops to jump through.  Is changing the French copy from 10 pt font to 12 pt font really that big of a deal?  I presume there are other coercive measures besides that?  I mean I presume one would have to have everything in French to operate in a French speaking market anyway.

[Josephus]

I read somewhere too, btw, that franchises like, for instance, Wendy's in CAnada use the Maple Leaf in their logo instead of the apostrophe. Because otherwise they can't put "Wendy's" which doesn't translate as such in French. Or something.

[Valmy]

I read somewhere too, btw, that franchises like, for instance, Wendy's in CAnada use the Maple Leaf in their logo instead of the apostrophe. Because otherwise they can't put "Wendy's" which doesn't translate as such in French. Or something.

Woah...



Oddly it looks less French having a Maple Leaf in there.

[crazy canuck]

Oddly it looks less French having a Maple Leaf in there.

Not only is Valmy practically French he is also a separatist.

[Malthus]

Perhaps not. But on the other hand, I dispute that a law that applies to all advertising and signage in a province is such a minor thing - indeed, yesterday I had very convincing proof of it, as I was at a meeting in which a major retailer listed Quebec as "last choice" for expansion due to entry costs imposed by these coerceive measures.

I guess I do not really understand that.  If you are going to enter into any market you have lots of hoops to jump through.  Is changing the French copy from 10 pt font to 12 pt font really that big of a deal?  I presume there are other coercive measures besides that?

There are lots (that's just the easiest one to explain).

The problem is this: companies prefer as much as possible to use interchangable materials; where regulations are different in different jurisdictions, they like to simply include the difference (for example, "not valid in California" or "as required by California regulations, XXXX ...".

This means only one set of materials need be produced.

Now, for Canada, sometimes the differences are so great that all-new materials must be produced. However, often the artwork and layout can be the same, just diferent text substituted, keeping costs down.

This isn't the case where one set of text must be "markedly more predominant" than the other. Everything must be redesigned, adding to the cost and complexity of distribution.

That cost poses a barrier to entry. Obviously not by any means an insurmountable one; but it does detract from the attractiveness of expanding into the province, if the choice is (say) between Toronto or Montreal.

[Valmy]

Not only is Valmy practically French he is also a separatist.

No Pierre Trudeau points for me.

[Oexmelin]

I guess I do not really understand that.  If you are going to enter into any market you have lots of hoops to jump through.  Is changing the French copy from 10 pt font to 12 pt font really that big of a deal?  I presume there are other coercive measures besides that?  I mean I presume one would have to have everything in French to operate in a French speaking market anyway.

I do not understand it either. My guess is that people make it a big deal - out of a variety of cultural reasons. But such arguments are always countered by variations over "the market doesn't recognize cultural arguments". Yet, I am not convinced.

Again, Quebec does not allow advertizing targetted at children - yet, of course, this might be denounced as silly, but it strangely has more legitimate grounds as a "cultural exception".

Apart from the advertizing, my guess is that the biggest beef of corporations and retailers is that the work-related materials need to be in French (i.e. training manuals, security signs, etc.). It can cause a problem when machinery / computers / programmes are bought, which come with 500-pages users' manual in English only.

Still, sometimes, it is hard not to ascribe it to bad faith. Take Corel, for instance - a Canadian company based in Ottawa. Its Canadian website is in English only. And so is its customer service. Yet Corel has everything already translated for its French website and market. It just doesn't make a French version in Canada.

[garbon]

I guess what I don't understand is this notion that Anglosphere is out to get the Francophones.  Apart from when the latter complain, it seems like the former never really think about them - so more neglect than outright malice.

[crazy canuck]

Not only is Valmy practically French he is also a separatist.

No Pierre Trudeau points for me.

Correct.  You would have to speak the language of equal bilingualism found in the Languages Act for that.  Also I am pretty sure none of our friends from Quebec would not feel comfortable having Trudeau points awarded for defence of the Quebec language laws.

[Valmy]

I guess what I don't understand is this notion that Anglosphere is out to get the Francophones.  Apart from when the latter complain, it seems like the former never really think about them - so more neglect than outright malice.

Do you know this for a fact?  I mean my exposure to Canada is generally limited to this board and stuff about the National Hockey League.

[Valmy]

Also I am pretty sure none of our friends from Quebec would not feel comfortable having Trudeau points awarded for defence of the Quebec language laws.

None of our friends from Quebec would not feel...

So...wait...what?

In any case I am not trying to defend the Quebec language laws I am just trying to understand what makes them so coercive.  I mean if you were going to expand your business into Mexico you would have to translate everything into Spanish right?  How is that different?

[crazy canuck]

I guess what I don't understand is this notion that Anglosphere is out to get the Francophones.  Apart from when the latter complain, it seems like the former never really think about them - so more neglect than outright malice.

The thing you are missing in this context is we do hear ignorant Quebec and French bashing that does go on in English Canada from time to time.  All Canadians are not as polite as languishites.

Viper picked this case as one such example.  I dont think he is right about that, but it certainly does occur.

[garbon]

I guess what I don't understand is this notion that Anglosphere is out to get the Francophones.  Apart from when the latter complain, it seems like the former never really think about them - so more neglect than outright malice.

Do you know this for a fact?  I mean my exposure to Canada is generally limited to this board and stuff about the National Hockey League.

I don't know I mean maybe corps run differently in Canada - and all our Anglo posters are lying - but it hardly seems probable that there is some sort of piecemeal conspiracy* out there.

Not that all the individuals are acting in a unified manner but that individually happen to all be approaching the same negative goal.

[crazy canuck]

Also I am pretty sure none of our friends from Quebec would not feel comfortable having Trudeau points awarded for defence of the Quebec language laws.

None of our friends from Quebec would not feel...

So...wait...what?

Yeah, take out the not before feel

[garbon]

I guess what I don't understand is this notion that Anglosphere is out to get the Francophones.  Apart from when the latter complain, it seems like the former never really think about them - so more neglect than outright malice.

The thing you are missing in this context is we do hear ignorant Quebec and French bashing that does go on in English Canada from time to time.  All Canadians are not as polite as languishites.

Viper picked this case as one such example.  I dont think he is right about that, but it certainly does occur.

Fair enough - I mean there may be some malice out there but enough to take offense at Corel's website?