Asymmetrical bilingualism

This is the story of Ms. Tremblay. She's wealthy and likes the good things in life. Ms. Tremblay is fond of Champagne Lacroix, an independent French producer who sells locally almost exclusively, and wants to import some of this fine champagne for a private reception.

Anyone can do this, provided he, or she, goes through the proper governmental agency and is willing to pay the pertaining fees. Ms. Tremblay thus goes to the SAQ to make appropriate arrangements and orders a few cases of the renown bubbly. There's plenty of time for the shipment to arrive and be processed for the reception. All is fine... so she thinks...

Once at the SAQ's processing facilities, there's a legal imbroglio; the labels are in French only and federal laws require them to be bilingual. The independent French producer doesn't have the volume that would justify translating the labels. The only solution is for the SAQ to add another label, with yet additional fees. Ms. Tremblay insists that the bottles are for private consumption, not for resale. Still... the law is clear. Sounds fair?...

A quick look at Ottawa's largest LCBO store shows that the federal law isn't applied equally in Ontario. Wines with an English only label can easily be found on the shelves, including Canadian wines.

Click here [Google translation] to read the whole story.