the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau admitted the mistake, but defended those who made it, explaining the incident “an extreme situation in which we are.”
“In certain situations we are willing to allow the signs and markings in the same language. But we would prefer that didn’t happen, because our linguistic duality is not only a question of our canadian identity, but also the safety of consumers,” he was quoted by the British newspaper the Guardian.
Trudeau explained that not all companies that recently shifted to the production of medical goods or sanitizers, employ bilingual staff and the ability to print the products information in two languages.
However, this did not satisfy the outraged French-speaking residents, for example in the province of Quebec, where the language is native to almost 80% of the population. They called the situation “dangerous” and “disrespectful” towards those who for centuries fought for the preservation of the native language.
In turn, the canadian Commissioner on the language of Raymond Tiberg expressed regret over the fact that the provinces of new Brunswick and Ontario, where there are large Francophone communities, announcements on health was done in English only. According to him, people should be able to understand the meaning of messages related to health, especially in the current difficult situation caused by the pandemic coronavirus.
According to the last census, almost a quarter of the 37 million population of Canada in their daily life using French language. “Nothing can be an excuse for the lack of respect for our two official languages. It is also a matter of health and safety,” said Senator Rene Cormier.
