Quebec language watchdog backtracks on pub sign it deemed too English

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This article was published 14/08/2025 (435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – In its second high-profile reversal in recent months, Quebec’s language watchdog has backed down after trying to get a well-known Montreal pub to change its outdoor sign. 

The Office québécois de la langue française had instructed Pub Burgundy Lion to add French language to its sign because “burgundy” is an English word. Following a public outcry, however, the language office now says that further analysis shows the pub’s signage does, in fact, conform to Quebec’s language rules.

“This is a regrettable situation, and we are sensitive to the reactions it has generated, both from the business and the public,” the watchdog said Thursday in a statement. “We will do everything possible to ensure that similar situations do not recur.”

Burgundy Lion co-owner Toby Lyle had refused to change his sign, arguing the pub’s name is a nod to the surrounding neighbourhood of Little Burgundy. The community was historically the centre of Montreal’s working-class, English-speaking Black community, and was the childhood home of jazz greats Oscar Peterson and Oliver Jones. 

“They would not have referred to it as Petite-Bourgogne,” Lyle said in an interview. “They would have referred to it as Little Burgundy.” 

Lyle had also refused the language watchdog’s demands to change the names of certain whisky regions on the pub’s website, including the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, arguing they have no French translations.

Earlier this week, the language office ordered the pub to develop a plan to fix the problems. But after Lyle went public with the dispute, he said the watchdog followed up on Thursday and was “deeply apologetic.” He believes the media attention caused the office to change course. 

New Quebec language rules that came into force in June require that French take up twice as much space as other languages on store signs, meaning that businesses with English names must add generic terms or descriptions in French. However, there is an exception for recognized place names in a language other than French. 

The watchdog now says it was “premature to request changes to the sign,” since it hadn’t yet decided whether the pub was breaking the rules. “After analysis, it appears that the sign is compliant,” the office said Thursday. Lyle said the office has assured him that the whisky regions will also get a pass.

Lyle said he risked alienating some of his patrons by speaking publicly about the issue. Since the media coverage began, the pub has attracted several negative online reviews from people saying it doesn’t respect the French language. 

“But at a certain point, I thought it would be a disservice and disrespectful to … the anglophone community and the neighbourhood to just accept and roll over,” he said. 

Lyle described the language rules as “smoke and mirrors” — an attempt by the Quebec government “to distract us from the issues that really need to be dealt with.”

However, he said the language office also pointed out a few other translation issues on the pub’s website that have since been fixed. 

The watchdog’s about-face comes months after it backtracked on another highly publicized intervention over an English word. This spring, the language office decided it’s now “partially legitimized” to use the word “go” to cheer on sports teams. 

That reversal followed public outrage over the Montreal transit agency’s decision to replace “Go! Canadiens Go!” with “Allez! Canadiens Allez!” on city buses after being contacted by the language watchdog about a complaint from a citizen.

In that case, the backlash prompted French-language Minister Jean-François Roberge to intervene, declaring that the expression “Go Habs Go” is part of Quebec culture, and that any future complaints about the slogan would be dismissed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025.