US Government says Quebec's french law is an illegal barrier to american business. ''We will not compromise on French. This isn't negotiable" Quebec premier responds.
Une barrière tarifaire, selon Washington | La loi 96 sur le français, « c’est non négociable », dit Legault
Amazing how the US government thinks US businesses have any standing in our country, after it wiped its ass with that trade treaty that wildly favoured them.
It is fucking wild. One might say it sounds like entitlement. But surely a "self-made man" like Donald Trump knows nothing of entitlement... /s
Lol they’re trying to mess with the Québécois. Good fucking luck with that.
I’m 100% with the Quebecois, get fucked USA, you don’t have jurisdiction here and you don’t get to dictate to us.
Edit: the US lacking bilingual packaging and documentation is an illegal barrier to our trade. They don’t even have an official language, so how can vis be a barrier to them. Maybe they should learn French.
If there's one thing the French are good at, it's resistance
I'm pretty sure it's one of the main reasons the right has always tried to crack jokes and minimize French influence in the U.S.
Wouldn't want the Americana to see their cousins have big brass balls and will torch anything in their way if their ruling class fucks around too much.
They don’t even have an official language
They do now. Since March 1st.
Doesn't diminish what you've said though.
TIL
And that’s officially a trade barrier to our domestic francophone population!
No, absolutely not.
Just because some asshole in a round office says something doesn't make it true. The US has no official language.
Non, absolument pas.
Ce n'est pas parce qu'un trou du cul dans un bureau rond dit quelque chose que ça devient vrai. Les États-Unis n'ont pas de langue officielle.
Were these idiots dropped on their heads as a baby? In what world can one country dictate the laws of another country without there being a war?
They're trying it on here in Australia too. The USA pharmaceutical industry is lobbying the USA administration by claiming that our PBS, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which allows us to have affordable medication and a safety net, is harming their bottom line because they're required to negotiate with the Australian Government in order to supply their medication at a negotiated price. Must be tough to have to negotiate with adults.
How arrogant of you to suggest that your entire country's medical needs are somehow more important than the financial well-being of some shareholders
Easy fix.
Hire better negotiators.
In what world can one country dictate the laws of another country without there being a war?
We are talking about a country that demands regulatory concessions in foreign countries, beyond those of which are afforded to said countries' domestic businesses.
I was curious about that whole "Canada doesn't want US banks" thing that started in the beginning of our deranged trade war, and it's really stupid. Opening a bank there is oh so hard for our poor widdle conglomerate banks because... stricter regulations and an unwillingness to make 35% of their Canadian subsidiary publicly owned.
That's it. Their banks have to follow the same rules, and Trump thinks that's unfair for us.
Buddy, they've been doing this for ages. Certainly ever since the end of WWII. Sometimes diplomatically, other times via interference, and when that fails, militarily. We're just kinda waking up to it now because we haven't seen as much of the second and third methods used against us before. But yeah, this isn't about stupidity, this has been their policy for a long time.
In what world can one country dictate the laws of another country
Welcome to American exceptionalism.
How does Australia's pharmaceutical industry compare to Canada's? We have a lot of generics here in Canada.. I'm curious whether Australia would benefit from a similar stance that favours more white label production, or if Australia is more invested in the development side and feels like it needs to maintain more strict/homogenized w/ US laws to keep them as a seller and recoup on its investments.
I had no idea, so I looked .. I still have no idea. The dollar numbers tossed around contradict each other and vary wildly, to the point of being absurd.
I don't know what the policy on generics is, but as I understand it, the PBS negotiates on our behalf to subsidize medication that would otherwise be completely unaffordable.
When I get to a computer with a screen that's bigger than my hand, I'll have a squiz at the Australian Bureau of Statistics to see if I can learn more.
Edit: Just came across this gem:
God, why do they feel entitled to our marketplace? Jesus Christ can they just fuck off?
People are finally realizing to whom the free market is.
It's their "god given right", didn't you know?
Basically anything I buy at the grocery store has between two and five languages. It's not hard America.
21% of Americans are illiterate.
54% have a literacy BELOW A SIXTH GRADE LEVEL.
Are you smarter than a 5th grader was a rhetorical question.
(For the 54% a rhetorical question is ... fuckit nevermind.)
I don’t speak French, but I assure you I would kill and if necessary die to ensure Quebec always can. We stand together.
It’s the old “I don’t necessarily agree with what you are saying, but I would defend to the death your right to say it” ideal, and I’m 100% down for it.
Manges de la merde, gros sans-dessein orange.
I'm calling it, he's going to say the same about the requirements to use the metric system.
Also, why does he care about trade barriers? I thought his goal was to economically isolate the US from the rest of the world. It sure is what all his actions and measures have been best at accomplishing so far.
They want maximum trade barriers going in and minimal trade barriers going out.
It's just straight up bullying. Always has been.
This is what happens when people who, at a primal level, think the world is a zero sum game. Who never learned how cooperation results in bigger rewards.
He wants to isolate is, but we can't isolate him! I guess if you get your head far enough up your own arse it makes sense?
Lmao.
Dude, not even the English could keep the Quebecers from speaking French, and they tried for over 100 years after the Brits took the province in the Seven Years War.
Good luck with that one, Cheeto.
I don’t know a lot about Canada but isn’t that how you piss off quebec?
It takes even less. I think they're all but chewing their shields and loading the cow into the catapult now.
Listen... I don't like bill 96.
But the US can get fucked. French is an official language and if anyone in Canada wants to do business in French, it's their right.
It's like the old saying about free speech. I may disagree with the laws you're passing, but I will defend to the death your right to pass your own laws.
the fucking nerve of americans. imagine if france callled up trump and said “your language is an illegal impediment to french businesses. speak french.” would the trumpster fire obey?
Lol at Trumpster Fire.
FU. You want to sell your products here you package them in our languages.
Vive le Quebec. Go get 'em.
The US government doesn't give a shit about anything except excuses for their catastrophic tariff plan. They want to highlight issues that will never be negotiable so they can justify them to Faux News and their Trumper cult. It is a classic divide an conquer technique on Canada. Further, I am sure Russia is running troll farms with misinformation on us now.
Dairy industry, VS oil and gas, VS Québécois.
Who is next?
Concede nothing to the US.
Totally agree. "Make an outrageous demand" is one of the few tools in trumps repitoire.
Even if we did somehow ascede to it, he'd just come up with something new. The point is to have something to hang over us, not to actually get the thing.
Nothing says "American values" like whining about how foreigners insist on speaking their native languages in their own countries (while threatening to invade them and demanding they do you special favours).
"wait, we have to follow laws of other countries?" that's illegal!
I have a lot of issues with the French legislation, but I understand why it exists. It's not about me, and it's not about American businesses either!
Wait until they find out about China.
Trump is using this to cause a crisis in Canada. Quebec objects, the ROC 1) may grow impatient with an agreement not being made. 2) IF the ROC rallies behind Quebec, the US will use it forever to justify tariffs.
Dirty tactics.
Like a third of the charter of rights and freedoms is about language laws and french/english. Even as a west coaster, I highly doubt there's a scenario where Canada doesn't side with Quebec on this front.
So option 2 it is -- but that's their endgame anyway, they're just hunting for an excuse to do it anyhow. Thats been clear ever since he dredged up Fentanyl as a boogeyman. Just hurry up and diversify trade more -- I'm fairly sure we can find other markets for most goods. Any business that's just sitting there hoping this will blow over, and/or that the government will bail them out, and isn't taking direct actions to mitigate this issue that's been months and months in the making.... deserves to fail.
According to him, Canada and Quebec have no advantage in making compromises on their language policies, nor do Italians, Dutch, Germans, etc. He pointed out that the United States did not ask its other partners for such compromises.
Illustrating the definition of discrimination.
We should all speak more French out of patriotism to show that we aren’t Americans?
Oui oui! Je suis an ananas!!
Honhonhon j’aime manger les ananas, jaime tous les fruits
Oui oui, tu es un ananas!
Bravo ! Allons regarder ensemble Psych en français (_)
No joke but I'm actually starting to learn it after half a decade of saying maybe next year
Lâche pas, ça vaut la peine!
Moi aussi! Je suis a 245 jours jusqu’a present.
That's it from now on the official languages of canada will be french and deep newfy
You might not be able to understand french but at least there are coursed and translation books
Hey we gotta allow Hoserish still, eh? The US can take right off, you knobs. snort Good Day.
Je ne peux pas parler Francais avec un peu de compétence, mais la langue des Québécois n'est pas une barrière pour les gens avec un peu de respect!
Pff. All that high school French and that's the best I can do. Anyways, shut up, US.
C'est déjà bien! Faut pas se décourager :)
You know, I only learned the basics of English at school. I became bilingual through exposition to the language, which admittedly is far easier for English than French in my opinion, but still.
Osti de tabarnak de calice!
Seriously though, this is a coincidence that he says this at the same time Carney says he wants Québec to roll back law 96.
Our French language protection laws is nobody's business but our own.
CBC's coverage says his problem isn't with the law itself:
Blanchet's criticism follows Carney's remarks Monday that a government led by him would act as an intervenor at the Supreme Court of Canada should it ever hear a challenge to Bill 96.
Carney said he would do so not because he has a problem with the legislation, but because he opposes any province's pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause to pass laws.
Americans never change, huh? It's 1774 all over again (in which Americans got so salty about people speaking French that it contributed to them choosing revolution) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Act
In a recent article published in The Atlantic magazine, (American military historian Eliot) Cohen used a tongue-in-cheek approach to warn Americans against invading Canada, pointing out that previous attempts led to dismal results.
His review of American military failures starts in 1775, when U.S. troops invaded Quebec, where they distributed pamphlets — translated into French — awkwardly declaring: “You have been conquered into liberty.” The campaign ended in disastrous defeat for the American Continental Army in December 1775.
If the US wants to Conquer us into Liberty. Then I will fight for Freedom from Liberty.
As a French French, I have the feeling Don picked the wrong fight...
You don't negotiate and speak with a kid in a sandbox having a tantrum. You educate.
Well with a child you are the kid's source of authority, jailer, etc. if you can get Trump to view you as an authority or get him into a jail of some kind, you may have the ability to educate.
Under the current situation, I don't think you have any power over the child.
LOL The American government just can't help itself, huh? Truly, the dumbest administration of all time. The Americans have successfully united Western and Eastern Canadians, something they should be very scared of since we never got along. Although the laws have been controversial, you can't say Quebec hasn't done a great job resisting Anglophone hegemony, and I suspect America will not be the exception they're hoping for.
Tell the demented rapist and his toadies to eat shit.
CBC has English coverage, and the law is only described as a "trade irritant", not anything illegal, which is surprising given the insane claims the Trump admin likes to make:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its annual list of global trade barriers Tuesday, and it includes Quebec's controversial language law Bill 96 as a trade irritant between the two countries.
The law isn't new but it has provisions that kick in in June that seem to be the main issue:
The changes impact the use of French in the judicial system, health care, schools, workplaces and businesses across the provincial economy, but the issue singled out as a trade barrier by the U.S. is how it impacts trademarks and labelling.
"U.S. businesses have expressed concerns about the impact that Bill 96 will have on their federally registered trademarks for products manufactured after June 1, 2025, which is when the relevant provisions of Bill 96 enter into force," the National Trade Estimate Report said.
When the new provisions kick in this summer, trademarks displayed on a product can only appear in English if there's no French version of the trademark registered. If the trademark or label contains generic terms or descriptions that are not in French, the trademark must be changed to include a French version of those terms and descriptions.
Companies found to have violated these changes to the law can face fines of up to $90,000 per day for their third offence, while individuals can be fined up to $42,000 a day for their third offence.
See, that detail actually helps me understand why they might complain. But their reframing of the issue as 'French is an illegal barrier' will absolutely send every Canadian on the defence.
Should counter with the USA using the imperial system.
Oh ho ho..... you've pissed off Quebec now. Gods help you now USA. :p
It's not any less of a barrier to Canadian companies outside fo Quebec. They both tend to hire Quebec people to deal with the barrier. Just as they might hire California people to help sales/marketing in that state.
Écoute mon gros gros pédophile et ses amis, tu pourrais me battre au sang que tu ne m’empêchera pas de parler ma langue. Gader vos estie de cochonneries amazon et vos films de super-héros pour idiots heureuz et enfoncez-vous les bien profondément dans le cul.
Carney has said the same.
PP, of course, is willing to talk about it.
Time to learn more french.
Better off with Spanish my friend. Many more scenarios where Spanish is useful and English is unusable than with french speaking areas. I am biased though, i've worked for french companies and my wife natively speaks Spanish.
In that case I don't see why they'd object to it, their president seems to be all in favour of illegal trade barriers.
Awwwww : ( pleurer plus 💔
Wait till they learn about other languages in other countries.
They're crushing Spanish in their own country.
The US conquered land from Mexico some centuries ago, and thus there's a large population of monolingual Spanish speakers in the south of the country.
Speaking your own language is an affront to American business. Better clean up your act Frenchie.