The SAQ management continues to feel obliged to call its employees to order: the use of “Hello, Hi” is banned from the network. Bloc MP Jean-Denis Garon, who has just suffered an affront in a branch in Montreal, is the trigger of this new recall.
“The use of this formula is neither suggested nor encouraged by SAQ management,” the state-owned company responded Thursday afternoon in a message posted on its website a few hours after the Journal’s initial call.
On Sunday, Mirabel's representative in the House of Commons, Jean-Denis Garon, heard a lot of “hello, hi” and “next, next” during his visit to the SAQ branch at the Jean-Talon market in Montreal.
The Bloc Québécois elected official asked the SAQ about
In an interview with Le Journal this week, Jean-Denis Garon wanted to go further. “It’s not normal that we have to rehearse so much,” he said, adding his voice to the concert.
“We don’t welcome people in English! “We can speak to them in English, it’s a matter of respect, but we should never greet them in English,” the economics professor loses his temper.
- Listen to the Martineau-Dutrizac meeting between Benoît Dutrizac and Richard Martineau QUB :
Everyone has their share of responsibility – including the SAQ – to keep the metropolis attractive, he says. Without the richness of French and its culture, what distinguishes Montreal from Milwaukee or Madison, Wisconsin?
According to the MP, Quebec institutions should lead by example. “Tourists are intelligent enough to understand that we shouldn’t think they’re stupid,” he laughs.
Not a premiere
The SAQ's use of “Bonjour, Hi” made headlines back in 2019. At the time, the Legault government refused to say whether it would require the SAQ to greet its customers only in French.
On Thursday it was the Minister for French Language, Jean-François Roberge, who took part. “This incident shows that we need to be vigilant,” he told the Journal as he attended his party’s election meeting in Sherbrooke.
The SAQ responded very quickly on Thursday, showing that the issue is being taken seriously. Vice President of Sales Isabelle Dufour had already told the Journal on Wednesday evening that she had ensured “that a reminder was made to the employees of the branch” of the Jean Talon market.
Who will give?'Example?
In 2017, members of the National Assembly voted unanimously to ask retailers to abandon the “Hello, Hello” formula to greet customers.
At the Lionel Groulx Foundation, we find it unacceptable that SAQ employees continue to greet customers in this way today.
Myriam D'Arcy has headed the Lionel Groulx Foundation since 2020. She has been involved in the nationalist movement for more than 20 years. Photo from the Lionel Groulx Foundation Facebook page
The state-owned company and its employees have a duty to set an example when using the French language, emphasizes managing director Myriam D'Arcy. She remembers that it is the only official and common language in Quebec.
She is reassured by the SAQ's response and is pleased that management will remind all of its employees in the coming days that French must be given priority in its branches.
But like Minister Roberge, Myriam D'Arcy remains vigilant. “I also invite the SQDC to carry out inspections and ensure that French is indeed the welcome language in its branches,” she said.
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