'Bonjour' is better than 'Bonjour-Hi', Valérie Plante tells merchants

The mayor made her comments Tuesday after a survey revealed that shoppers in Montreal are greeted only in French 71 per cent of the time.

Published April 23, 2024 • Last update 5 hours ago • 2 minute reading

Mayor Valérie Plante points to a sticker on the uniform of Sabor Latino supermarket manager Sandra García, asking for patience while she takes French lessons in early April. “While we want to welcome everyone, we should be proud and encourage people to just say ‘Bonjour'” in store greetings, Plante said Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says she would insist on being served in French if an employee greeted her in English.

“To be honest, it didn’t happen to me, but I think it’s important to ask the person to speak French,” Plante said Tuesday. “We are in Quebec; the only official language is French. We need and should offer services in French. If the person is not fluent, then we have to make sure that the store supports the employee so that he learns French well.”

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Plante made the comments immediately after a new poll released by the Québec Office of the French Language. It revealed that people shopping in Montreal are greeted only in French 71 per cent of the time, up from 84 per cent in 2010. At the same time, bilingual greetings like “Bonjour-Hi” account for 12 percent of cases in the city, up from just four percent in 2010.

“For me, it’s an advantage to say ‘Bonjour,’ and I think people like that,” Plante said. “I don’t think people will feel less loved, appreciated or welcomed if we don’t add a word in English. For me, I think we have to take ownership of ‘Bonjour’, because Montreal is an international city. There are many tourists and people who come from all over the world. We say ‘Bonjour’.”

He added that there are many programs to help public-facing workers improve their French, including those provided by the province and the Metropolitan Montreal Chamber of Commercel.

“People come to Montreal knowing that it is a French city. Although we want to welcome everyone, we should be proud and encourage people to just say ‘Bonjour’.”

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In Quebec City, Jean-François Roberge, minister of the French language, repeated his view that being greeted in French in a store should be the norm.

He said it is nothing against the English language.

“It’s normal to be greeted, 100 percent of the time, in French in business, whether in Montreal, Gatineau or Gaspé.”

He stressed, however, that the Government cannot do everything when it comes to the language of stores, leaving it up to citizens to insist on saying hello in French or move their business to another store.

“Quebecers must take French seriously,” he said. “The Quebecers will save the French. Of course, when you go to a store and are greeted by a ‘Bonjour-Hi’, it’s not the best.

“It should be ‘Bonjour’ and then, if people want to be served in English, they can ask. But here in Quebec, Montreal, Alma, Gaspé, the welcome should be in French.”

“‘Bonjour-Hi’ sends the wrong message that we are a bilingual nation,” he added. “We are not. In Quebec, French is the only common and official language, but we are proud to be bilingual.

“It’s an important difference.”

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