François Legault wanted the Quebec flag to fly at half mast for the death of Pope Francis, but his request was denied because of the secularity law, aka Bill 21.
Leopards? Eat his face?
Updates from May, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
As the new, more comprehensive version of the language law, aka Bill 96, comes into force, it will become illegal to sell certain items with only English labels, notably music and sound equipment.
Yes, some people may lose their jobs and businesses, but we all must suffer to protect French. For myself, I can’t wait to see Canadian Tire stores with “QUINCAILLERIE” in letters twice the size of the logo.
The CBC looked at the latter consequence in a video a year ago.
steph
I haven’t seen it specifically addressed, but will it still be legal to sell laptops with english only keyboards?
EmilyG
As a musician, this worries me.
Nicole
As a musician, I guess I’ll be buying a lot of gear from Ontario
Orr
Some websites already won’t sell in Quebec, a result of one of the previous french-only laws (it’s hard to keep track of which law causes which self-inflicted damage).
Ian
Many chain stores and entire product lines have been unavailable here for years. We do after all only represent 8 million people out of about 370 million in North America, it’s not a huge loss not to sell here – especially since those that live here that really want those products can get them pretty easily given how much of the population lives within easy driving distance from Ontario or the US.
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Kate
Workers in the Montreal Ikea store have been on strike since midnight, or as they would probably call it, a strejkaktion.
Ian
5 over 4 is hästskit, good for them.
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Kate
The city plans to remove most of the 325 advertising pillars that first became a feature of some streets 30 years ago. Designed after a Paris original, most of them are in Ville‑Marie.
DeWolf
I’m not sure this is a good idea. I like the idea of reducing the amount of advertising in public spaces, but the maps are useful for tourists — you’d be surprised at how many people don’t use Google Maps or other apps — and the advertising can also be used for cultural events. (There’s a good reason they won’t be removed in the Quartier des spectacles.) The pillars themselves are interesting design objects. And ending the contract will also deprive Ville-Marie alone of about $2 million a year in revenue, which is not insignificant in the current context.
On top of that, the pillars in the Quartier international were specifically conceived to hide traffic equipment, and now they’re being replaced by hideous metal boxes on rough concrete blocks that really degrade the streetscape.
Kate
Yes, a photo about halfway down the La Presse article shows a big gray box and a big black box, plunked down on the sidewalk. They look temporary, but will they be?
GC 09:53 on 2025-05-03 Permalink
“la majorité des citoyens du Québec sont catholiques” Is that even true? Maybe on paper, according to census data, but I doubt the majority of them are practicing in any way.
Kate 10:07 on 2025-05-03 Permalink
Given the emptiness of the churches, I think you’re right.
When I was doing census work, people would often say, in response to the religion question, something like my family was Catholic, but….
It’s not entirely inaccurate to say it’s part of the culture here, not a system of beliefs any more.
bob 11:02 on 2025-05-03 Permalink
(Paraphrasing) They may not be *Christians*, but they certainly remain Catholic.
TeeOwe 12:13 on 2025-05-03 Permalink
Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t get it but ‘leopards, eat his face’ – ?
On whether folk are catholic or Christian- I consider myself atheist BUT I was raised in a Christian family and therefore my mores and values are shaped from that- I think we need to respect that aspect for broader society – it’s not just whether one goes to this or that church or other religious entity, but how you were shaped growing up – IMO surpasses arguments about secularism etc. Can discuss.
Kate 12:29 on 2025-05-03 Permalink
TeeOwe: “The phrase, popularized by a 2015 Twitter post, refers to the “Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party,” a parody of a political party whose policies are cruel and unjust, and whose voters are surprised when those same policies hurt them. It highlights the irony of supporting policies that negatively impact oneself, often in a way that’s unexpected or ironic.”
Meezly 13:18 on 2025-05-03 Permalink
The respect for how our identities were shaped growing up whether it be Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, pagan, atheist… Wouldn’t it be nice if our “secular” society treated everyone with such equal measure.
I think pluralistic secularism ideally recognizes how religion and culture are tightly intertwined – its objective is to keep the Church out of government affairs and be neutral to all religions. Yet Legault’s secularism is intrinsically white supremacist and weaponized against those who don’t fit into the dominant cultural norms.
Treating a piece of clothing as religious garb instead of something that’s part of one’s cultural identity – you must either stop wearing this clothing to work or you can move somewhere else. How are these citizens respected? What is there to discuss except that Legault’s Quebec is rife with hypocrisy and exclusionism?
But so glad to see Legault hoisted by his own petard!!
Ephraim 11:48 on 2025-05-04 Permalink
53.8% said they were Catholic in the 2021 census. About 7.5% actually attend church one a month… 4% weekly. As far as I know, the official religion in Quebec is Lapsed Catholic.
Kate 12:07 on 2025-05-04 Permalink
It really is, Ephraim. People may still baptize their kids, hold weddings and funerals in church, but allowing the church to dictate how they live? I don’t think so.
Ian 07:31 on 2025-05-05 Permalink
I’ve heard a couple of people self-escribe as “culturally catholic”,
jeather 09:38 on 2025-05-05 Permalink
Culturally Catholic is a perfectly clear and accurate description for people. However, that does not mean that their “cultural” actions are secular.