than five persons, where such firms share, with
two or more other business firms, the use of a
trademark, a firm name or an appellation by which
they are known to the public.
The complaint
3.
The author contends that Bill No. 101, as
amended by Bill No. 178, is discriminatory, in that it
restricts the use of English to indoor advertising and
places businesses that carry out their activities in
English in a disadvantageous position vis-à-vis
French businesses.
"The Government may, however, by
regulation, prescribe the terms and conditions
according to which public signs and posters and
public advertising may be both in French and in
another language, under the conditions set forth in
the second paragraph of section 58.1, inside the
establishments of business firms contemplated in
subparagraphs 3 and 4 of the second paragraph.
Legislative provisions
4.1 The relevant original provisions of the Charter
of the French Language (Bill No. 101, S.Q. 1977,
C 5) have been modified several times. In essence,
however, they have remained substantially the same.
In 1977, section 58 read as follows:
"The Government may, in such regulation,
establish categories of business firms, prescribe
terms and conditions which vary according to the
category and reinforce the conditions set forth in
the second paragraph of section 58.1".
"Except as may be provided in this Act or
the regulations of the Office de la langue française,
signs and posters and commercial advertising shall
be solely in the official language."
4.5 Section 6 of Bill No. 178 modified section 68
of the Charter, which read:
"68. Except as otherwise provided in this
section, only the French version of a firm name
may be used in Quebec. A firm name may be
accompanied with a version in another language
for use outside Quebec. That version may be used
together with the French version of the firm name
in the inscriptions referred to in section 51, if the
products in question are offered both in and
outside Quebec.
4.2 The original wording of section 58 was
replaced in 1983 by section 1 of the Act to Amend
the Charter of the French Language (S.Q. 1983,
C-56), which read:
"58. Public signs and posters and
commercial advertising shall be solely in the
official language.
"Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the cases
and under the conditions or circumstances
prescribed by regulation of the Office de la langue
française, public signs and posters and commercial
advertising may be both in French and another
language or solely in another language ..."
"In printed documents, and in the
documents contemplated in section 57 if they are
both in French and in another language, a version
of the French firm name in another language may
be used in conjunction with the French firm name.
4.3 The initial language legislation was struck
down by the Supreme Court in La Chaussure
Brown's Inc. et al. v. the Attorney General of Quebec
(1989) 90 N.R 84. Following this, section 58 of the
Charter was amended by section 1 of Bill No. 178.
While certain modifications were made relating to
signs and posters inside business premises, the
compulsory use of French in signs and posters
outside remained.
"When texts or documents are drawn up in
a language other than French, the firm name may
appear in the other language without its French
version.
4.4 Section 58 of the Charter, as modified in 1989
by section 1 of Bill No. 178, read:
"2.
A firm name may appear solely in
its version in another language, if they are solely in
a language other than French."
"On public signs and posters and in
commercial advertising,
"1.
A firm name may be accompanied
with a version in another language, if they are both
in French and in another language;
"58. Public signs and posters and
commercial advertising, outside or intended for the
public outside, shall be solely in French. Similarly,
public signs and posters and commercial
advertising shall be solely in French,
4.6 Section 10 of Bill No. 178 contained a socalled "notwithstanding" clause, which provided that:
"The provisions of section 58 and of the
first paragraph of section 68, brought into effect
under sections 1 and 6 respectively of the present
bill, shall operate irrespective of the provisions of
section 2, paragraph (b), and section 15 of the
Constitutional Act of 1982 ... and shall apply
notwithstanding articles 3 and 10 of the Charter of
Human Rights and Freedoms."
"1.
Inside commercial centres and their
access ways, except inside the establishments
located there;
"2.
Inside any public means of transport
and its access ways;
"3.
Inside the establishments
business firms contemplated in section 136;
of
4.7 Another "notwithstanding" provision is
incorporated into section 33 of the Canadian Charter
of Human Rights and Freedoms, which reads:
"4.
Inside the establishments of
business firms employing fewer than fifty but more
79
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