Quebec passes motion for store clerks to only use 'bonjour' greeting

Dec 1 2017, 11:42 pm

Whether you’re from Montreal or you’ve visited at one point, you may have noticed store clerks greeted you both in French and in English by saying, “bonjour, hi.”

And while you might think this multilingual greeting was a polite and welcoming gesture, Quebec’s provincial politicians apparently disagree.

On November 30, the legislature voted unanimously on the Parti Québécois (PQ) motion calling on store clerks to stick with a simple “bonjour” when addressing customers rather than the hybrid “bonjour, hi.”

The PQ stated that far too many people are speaking both French and English to customers, and that “bonjour” is one of the most recognized words in the French language and that this move reaffirms that French is Quebec’s official language.


Leader Jean-François Lisée said the change was a small victory for the French and added, “Thanks to the action of the Parti québécois. Really reverse the decline of the french, to a victory of the PQ and the Bill 202.”

The push to remove bilingualism in customer-service greetings came in the wake of a report stating that French was rapidly declining in the workplace.

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