Anglophones in Montreal are leading a smear campaign on social networks to shut down the bakery of a merchant who has the misfortune of serving a customer… in French.
“It’s not dirty and it’s not sinful to speak in French to customers and say hello to them. This call for a boycott was made by old goats who have a completely exaggerated reaction”, thunders Jérôme Moutonnet, owner of the Brioche Dorée.
Mr. Moutonnet, the head of a bakery on Greene Avenue in Westmount, served an English-speaking lady last week whom he will not soon forget.
“I took his order in English. I don’t mind speaking in the client’s language. I escaped by asking her if she wanted to heat up her sandwich in French. This is where everything degenerated, ”laments Mr. Mourtonnet.
Big call for a boycott
This client, who is called Elaine Harris, then freaked out against the merchant who spoke to her in the language of Molière.
“She was upset because I spoke to her in French. But I am French, in a French bakery in Quebec, so where is the drama? In addition, the client understands and speaks this language,” sighs Jérôme Moutonnet.
Elaine Harris, who did not respond to requests for interviews from the Journal, therefore launched a smear campaign against the bakery on social networks.
“This is a long way of asking you to join me and my friends who witnessed the behavior today, to BOYCOTTER this store,” Ms Harris wrote in an email and on social media.
According to Mr. Moutonnet, his business would have been exploited because of Bill 96, which arouses the discontent of the English-speaking community
Francos to his rescue
Result? Since last Tuesday, the Brioche Dorée bakery has received at least 350 new reviews on Google. Only about forty of them are negative because of the appeal launched on social networks by the English-speaking client.
“His operation didn’t work too well. We received hundreds of positive messages from francophones, among others, who supported us. Basically, she had a supremacist and colonialist behavior. She wants us to speak to her in English, or else she tries to ruin us, ”denounces Mr. Moutonnet.
Scandal
Josianne Lavallée, general vice-president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (SSJB) of Montreal, says that this situation is simply scandalous.
“All that for a sentence in French! This event once again shows all the contempt and intolerance towards our French language in Quebec. Especially in Montreal and Westmount,” comments Ms. Lavallée.
“Anglophones should also be reminded that under Law 101, merchants are not obliged to speak to them in English,” recalls the SSJB.
