Thursday 17 January 2013

OLF Back On The Attack Against Montreal Ben And Jerry's

We recently featured a story on Montreal’s Ben And Jerry’s and their struggle with the language police. Over the course of a year they have been the repeated victims of the OLF’s bullying and harassment. Ben and Jerry’s have complied fully with all demands on every occasion only to have the OLF come back for more.
 
CJAD and CTV news did a full report on the issue last month and judging from the response they received from the OLF, they felt that the issue would be put to rest.

Unfortunately today, Ben and Jerry’s have been harassed once again. They received a letter in the mail asking that they further comply. The problem this time, the terms “GST” and “phone” printed on the cash register receipts.


We won’t make this a tabloid story as we are sure everyone at this point would like to stick to the facts. In our opinion, this repeated harassment, despite FULL compliance on numerous occasions, is simply outrageous. Local businesses in Montreal do not deserve this sort of treatment. It is difficult enough as is to survive in a stagnant economy. Making the choice to become a small business owner is a difficult one for many to make. Profit margins are usually quite slim and these small owners need to put their children through school and food on the table.

We find it absolutely disgusting that our own government, to whom we pay taxes to, should repeatedly threaten, add to stress levels and force small businesses into submission. The fear these business owners have are legitimate; heavy fines and an eventual bankruptcy would be the result. They have no choice but to comply at their own expense.

Service in French and signage is NOT the problem. Walk into any Ben And Jerry’s and you will see there is absolutely no issue.

We need everyone to take this seriously. Bill 14 will make the situation worse; we need to ensure that everyone’s voices are heard.

If you would like to keep track of all the latest news on language discrimination in Quebec please feel free to join our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/putbacktheflag

If you are a small business owner, have been harassed by the OQLF, please feel free to contact us at : putbacktheflag@gmail.com  We will fight for you.


To read our original blog post with pictures, click here

CTV News Story about Ben And Jerry's : http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/quebec-s-language-laws-leave-ben-jerry-s-shop-with-ice-cream-headache-1.1077743

CJAD: http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?blogEntryID=10478778







2 comments:

  1. How many businesses will the OQLF be involved in shutting down and forcing to comply with language discrimination, is becoming innumerable.
    These people must continue to be denounced for petty bureaucratic harassment - it is unwanted and unnecessary!

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  2. I just returned from demonstrating outside for 2 hours. I wore a down vest and 2 down jackets, long underwear, my x-c ski lycra + pants, 2 balaclavas and a fur hat neoprene mitts with liners and I was warm as toast! Thanks to Kirk Bennett videos and stills will appear by tomorrow! The signs asked people to Google: Is Something Rotten In Lachine? That gets people to the blog where they can sign the petition.

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