Premier François Legault's language minister, Nathalie Roy, says her government doesn't plan to modify Bill 101, but is promising stricter enforcement of language rules.
She told Le Devoir in an interview on Tuesday that she's "profoundly disturbed" by what she calls the "anglicization" of Montreal, and the fact many businesses appear to be flouting the rules on signage.
Roy insists there's no need to beef up the existing rules, just a need to enforce the ones on the books — which she says the Liberals have basically neglected to do in their 15 years in office.
She told the paper she recently met with leaders of the Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF) to tell them what she expected of the agency — to reverse what she sees as a slow decline in the use of French in public spaces, and that she wants "concrete actions" to correct that.
However, she said she also wants the rules to be applied intelligently — and that means, no repeat of the infamous "Pastagate" situation that made world headlines in 2013.
In early 2013, the Buonanotte restaurant on St. Laurent Blvd. was visited by OQLF inspectors who cited the restaurant for its use of the word "pasta" on its menus. The story, first broken by CJAD 800 commentator Dan Delmar, ended up receiving worldwide attention — none of it flattering for the language authorities — and led to the resignation of the OQLF's then-boss Louise Marchand within weeks.
Roy told Le Devoir that she expects language inspectors to exercise "good judgement" and "common sense" in applying the rules.