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Or sign-in if you have an account.Arthurs Nosh Bar owner Raegan Steinberg outside her restaurant in Montreal. Quebec’s language watchdog is targeting the business because of its name. Photo by John Mahoney/Montreal Gazette/PostmediaCanadians aren’t big on civil disobedience, at least not if it comes with consequences. They’ll march, occupy, beset, harass and intimidate, but they’ll generally insist they have a constitutional right to do all that in the name of protest. The most famous civil rights icons knew they would get arrested, and knew it could be much worse than that. But most modern protesters don’t want to risk missing a day of work or board-game night, or having to pay a fine, on behalf of their principles.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorSome Montreal restaurateurs are bucking that trend in a small but beautifully simple way, showing defiance against the latest goonish attack on people just trying to run an honest, successful business from the language police at the Office québécois de la langue française’s (OQLF). We need more of this, and faster.The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe latest target is Arthurs, a popular Jewish restaurant in St-Henri. Arthurs calls itself a “nosh bar.”Some anonymous sociopath actually complained about that to the OQLF, because “nosh” isn’t French, and the OQLF actually saw fit to follow up and demand redress. (Mind you, that is their job. Hate the players by all means, but you have to hate the game as well.)“‘Bar’ is French or English, bilingual, and ‘nosh’, which is a Yiddish word, is not compliant,” the OQLF informed Arthurs in a letter.In response, David MacMillan, one of the Quebec’s best-known chefs, simply wrote “NOSH” on the front door of his restaurant on Montreal’s West Island. A few others have done the same. It’s hardly Rosa Parks in Montgomery, but it’s definitely something.“Our city is a mosaic of cultures, stories, languages and traditions. That’s what fills our markets, inspires our menus and makes this one of the greatest food cities in the world,” reads an Instagram post by soup-and-salads outfit Mandy’s, which also added “nosh” to its front window. “The words may come from different places, but they belong to all of us now.”Disobedience of the OQLF nannies seems to be growing from the targets themselves, too, not just from those who support them.The OQLF recently sent a warning letter to a Syrian-Armenian-Lebanese bakery, Lahmajoune, which is run by francophones — not that that should matter — for excessive English-language social media posts. “Honestly, it makes me feel sad,” proprietor Charbel Hannan told the Montreal Gazette. “We’re a family-run business rooted in this province. We work hard, we pay our taxes, we serve our community with respect, with love, with craft. Everything is handmade. So to receive a letter like that, it doesn’t feel like support.”The OQLF also recently turned its sights on SoLIT Café, in downtown Montreal, for having a name that, if you put a space in it, becomes an English expression. The proprietor told CBC the OQLF also insisted she translate “chicken nachos,” and then complained again when it became “nachos au poulet,” because “nachos” is also English. (The OQLF disputes the “nachos” part of the story. I know who I believe.)Famously, running a restaurant doesn’t come with a lot of free time. Yet these propreitors are essentially daring sociopaths to complain and the OQLF to investigate and sanction them. And there’s certainly no reason to think it wouldn’t. It’s a sort of bravery Quebec needs far more of. One of the saddest moments of the Bill 21 process was when the English Montreal School Board said it simply wouldn’t respect it — i.e., it would not discriminate against teachers who wear religious symbols — and then folded like a cheap tent.Dreary as all this is, it’s worth trying to laugh at it, because it’s so stupid.“Bar” is fine, the OQLF says, because that’s a French word as well as an English word. But “nosh” isn’t fine because it’s a Yiddish word.Except ”nosh” is also an English word, of course, borrowed from Yiddish. And since “bar” is both an English word and a French word, for all the OQLF knows, “nosh bar” as a phrase might be entirely English. It could certainly be interpreted as such by unsuspecting passersby or customers who might thereby be irredeemably corrupted. Can Quebec afford to risk it?Perhaps the funniest part of “Pastagate,” the 2013 foofaraw that saw an Italian restaurant in Montreal menaced for having “pasta” and “pizze” on its menu instead of “pâtes” and “pizzas,” was that the OQLF could offer no alternative to “insalata caprese,” so let it slide. But it just means “salad from Capri,” and French can certainly handle that. Radio-Canada’s cooking website provides a recipe under the term “salade caprese,” but how are we to know if that’s the Italian “caprese” or the French “caprese”?We need top minds on this!For reasons that defy logical explanation, Pastagate blew up across the political and linguistic spectrum. It was on the front pages of newspapers. (International mockery may have had a lot to do with that.) So far as I can see, a single francophone news outlet has picked up the entirely analogous noshgate: Noovo Info, which translated sister Bell Media company CTV’s English article on the matter.They bloody well shouldn’t have to, but if Quebec businesses want this bullying madness to end, they need to gang up and insist on sanity and make the francophone press notice. If even five per cent of Montreal restos were suddenly “nosh bars,” the bureaucracy might just have to concede defeat. Perhaps other hitherto unimagined freedoms might follow.National Post cselley@postmedia.com Get the latest from Chris Selley straight to your inbox Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.