Those familiar with the preponderantly Gallic - speakingCanadianprovince of Quebec will know that it has a fat chronicle and acculturation all its own , but still keep a lot of its French source . Quebec has created public organisation meant to carry on particularculturalcharacteristics — and sometimes theymight go a little too far .
On February 14 , 2013 , the Office Québécois de la Langue Française ( OQLF ) , an organization tied to the Quebec Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities that monitors the public use of goods and services of the Frenchlanguage , sent a letter of warning to the owner of Buonanotte , a voguish Italian eatery site in Montreal . The problem ? The comprehension of words likepasta , antipasto , andbottigliaon the menu did not comply with Quebec’sCharter of the French Language , and were to be replace with their French equivalent .
Once owner Massimo Lecaspostedthe seemingly derisory ill to social media , the story was clean up by local newsworthiness outlets and eventually report worldwide . The on-line commotion — not to mention the many jokes cause by the ailment — and thesubsequent public outcrycame to be known as “ pastagate . ”
The charter itself is a language policy enacted in Quebec in 1977 . It outlines Gallic as the language of the Quebecois majority and the official language of the province , and is the independent effectual dominance behind the OQLF ’s enforcement policies . It ’s the same lawmaking that mandated that all public signage in Quebec be in French so , for example , arrest sign display ARRÊT .
But within the chapter entitled “ Missions and Powers , ” segment 159 grants the place the capacity to be “ responsible for specify and conducting Quebec policy on linguistic officialization , terminology and the francization of the polite administration and enterprisingness . ” As for enforce the linguistic rule , section 161 and 162 stipulate they have the right to “ see to it that French is the normal and everyday words of work , communicating , commerce , and byplay in the civil presidency and in enterprises , ” and to “ take any appropriate measure to promote French , ” while also to “ assist and inform the civic administration , semipublic bureau , endeavour , associations , and natural persons as regards the correction and enrichment of spoken and write French in Quebec . ”
Pastagatehit a national cheek about how these language policies apparently meant to reenforce French cultural heritage are imposed and interpret . finally the OQLF admitted they acted with an “ overindulgence of elan , ” and allowed non - French parole such aspastato stay on bill of fare , but with a minor caution : OQLF spokesman Martin Bergeron say , " Other languages can be on the menu . The thing is they must not be predominant over French , " and “ If it ’s only the name of the beauty , if it ’s an exotic name in the language of descent , that wo n’t be a problem . " Despite backtracking from its initial objection , OQLF ’s president Louise Marchand was forced to give up amid all the fervor , and the inquiry was dropped against Buonanotte .
The incident led many other restaurateurs throughout Quebec to cite their own OQLF run - ins . David McMillan , proprietor of Montreal ’s famous restaurant Joe Beef , explain he was apprize to slay signs in English that said “ passing ” and “ please go away this gate closed , ” or face clayey amercement . McMillan tell the National Post , “ I just get so sad and depressed and marvel , what ’s wrong with these multitude ? ”
A edition of this article ran in 2013 and it has been updated for 2022 .
