Make Your Own Bill 101
So you think you know a better way of protecting the French language in Québec? You’ve figured out how to balance the rights of 7 million French-speakers gasping for air in a sea of more than 300 million English-speakers while respecting the rights of a historical English-speaking minority, natives and newly arrived immigrants? You’ve figured out the precise spot where one person’s right end and another’s freedom begins?
Do it!
Today AngryFrenchGuy introduces Make Your Own Bill 101, a fully public Wiki where Purzédurzs and Angryphones can work together, hand in hand, to create a better language law for Québec.
If my past attempts at fixing bill 101 are any indication, you bitches only enjoy whining and you don’t have many actual alternatives offer. But I’m giving it another shot anyway.
MYOB101 begins with the Charter of the French Language as it stands on March 31st 2009. In the spirit of Wikipedia, Make your Own Bill 101 makes the French Language Charter Open Source. Anyone can change it, tweak it, fix it, add rules and remove rules. It was inspired by wikideddfu.com, a make-your-own-language-law wiki created by Hywel Williams, member of the British House of Commons to design a language law for Wales.
To get things started, I’ve already made a few changes to the law myself.
1. From now on, a minimum of three complaints against a business or commerce will be required before the Office Québécois de la Langue Française can begin an investigation and potentially issue a fine.
2. To discourage vigilantes, persons filing complaints with the OQLF shall provide proof that they live, work or own property in the same postal code, or in a postal code adjacent, to the business against which the complaint has been filed.
3. Businesses will no longer be required to have a French name. That is silly and useless. (English-only names are cheesy, tacky, and unimaginative. But we can’t start having laws against that…)
4. fines for repeat offender will be tougher.
You have a better idea? Please be my gest.