by William Johnson, Special to the Gazette
That one picture was worth a 1,000 words or maybe 10,000. The picture remember? appeared Wednesday on the front page of The Gazette. It showed Mendy Berson standing in front of the sign put up 50 years ago by his grandfather the sign which drew down upon him the threats of the Quebec government.
L. Berson & Fils monuments. The sign also had five letters in Hebrew the Hebrew word for tombstone. Though "monuments" was twice as long as the Hebrew word, the Hebrew letters were taller than the French letters, and so the language vigilantes pounced. Change your sign or face prosecution, he was warned by the Quebec government.
A funny thing, though. The picture and explanatory report were published. Talk-show host Howard Galganov raised a stink about it on his CIQC morning program. He phoned Mendy Berson, urged him not to be intimidated by the threat of prosecution. He promised to cover all the legal costs if the Quebec government took him to court. Galganov also urged his listeners to phone the Office de la Langue Française with a piece of their mind.
Before the morning was out, Berson got a call from the Quebec government: his file was closed. The language vigilantes backed down.
There's a moral to the story: if you fight back, intelligently, with broad support, the language police will likely back down. Take the case of community newspaper published in Wakefield, in Gatineau. Its unusual name is derived from the two municipalities at either end of its coverage area: The Low down to Hull and back News.
On Tuesday of last week, the News received a visit from a woman from the Commision de Protection de la Langue Française, presumably because of the sign hanging in front of the newspaper's office. The editor, Art Mantell, never did find out the reason of the visit. When the visitor identified herself as from the commission, he asked reporter Julie Walker to take her picture. She went for the camera, but the brave vigilante kept repeating: "Non, non, monsieur." Mantell insisted: "Oui, oui, Julie, prenez la photo" "NON" "Oui, Julie, la photo."
The vigilante ran out the door to her rented car, with Walker in hot pursuit. The vigilante dashed behind the wheel and drove away, her wheels spinning. Walker caught a picture of the rear of the car, with the exhaust spuming out from the fast start.
The picture is in the Dec. 18 issue of the News. Mantell concludes his account of the event with these words: "A bemused editor could only conclude that a camera on the OLF acts much like garlic on a vampire."
It pays to fight back. Don Donderi has had a 100-per-cent success rate with the 41 clients who turned to him when they were threatened by the language police. He bought each of their signs for $1 he now owns more than 100 and put a sticker on the sign saying it contained a political statement. The commision has huffed and puffed, but it has never prosecuted him or one of his clients.
Galganov picketed Toys ``R'' Us in Pointe Claire on Thursday of last week. The store had signs in French only. When the picketers returned Saturday morning, a miracle had occurred: English signs had somehow sprouted throughout the store.
A week earlier, Galganov's freedom- fighters picketed a Canadian Tire store in Cavendish Mall. Before the evening was out, the management agreed to put up English signs.
The fight for freedom of expression and against language intolerance can be won, if people who believe in rights will only band together. Lawyer Julius Grey, financed by Galganov, is taking the government to court to argue that the regulations passed under Bill 86 are "absurd" with their demand that the French be twice as large as all other languages combined. We should support the legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court.
Galganov's current target for boycott is Bureau en Gros in Ville LaSalle. Everyone should boycott this company until it shows respect for its clients by putting up English signs.
The tide of language imperialism can be reversed in Quebec if there is a will and solidarity.
- William Johnson is a freelance journalist and minority-rights activist, who lives in Gatineau. He may be reached by E-mail at wjohnson@magmacom.com