Head of Quebec’s Language Watchdog Agency Resigns Amid ‘Pastagate’ Scandal

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The head of Quebec’s language watchdog agency has offered his resignation due to the ongoing chain of controversies being bombarded at the agency. The announcement that the president of the Office québécois de la langue française, Louise Marchand, has resigned from his position was made by the provincial minister responsible for the agency.

The departure of Marchand was announced after a long list of upsetting news stories that have made many question the agency in Quebec, the rest of Canada, and even abroad. The most noticeable of such stories was when an Italian restaurant was obligated to eliminate the word “pasta” from its menu, whereas, several other similar reports have been made public in recent days as well. These stories are damning the image of OQLF, which has led some of its more nationalist defenders suggest theories of an Anglo plot to harm the reputation of the agency. Whereas, other OQLF defenders claim that its inspectors are only doing the job politicians have asked them to do, which is to vigilantly enforce Quebec’s language law.

These controversial chronological events have lead to an extremely uncommon situation in Quebec politics, where the Parti Québécois government has asked language watchdog to keep a low profile and be less aggressive. The situation has also allowed journalists to spur frequent jokes in newspaper columns, and cartoons in social media, concerning the 50-year-old institution. The so-called “Pastagate” stories are not the only headache for the government, as in the long run, the PQ might even face difficulty later to get a language bill adopted by the legislature.

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