In a recent decision of the Municipal Court of Montreal, the defendant was accused of having illegally parked his vehicle in a parking area reserved for permit holders. The defendant defended herself by explaining that, unilingual English, she could not understand the signs for traffic that was exclusively in French.

Section 22 of the Charter of the French language provides that the Administration use only French in the display, except when the health or public safety require the use of another language.

The Court held that a sign reserving parking for permit holders did not put into play the public health or public safety as the only risk was that of receiving a ticket. The municipality had the option of using pictograms, which she chose to do so and allowed a person who does not speak French to understand that these symbols represented an interdiction between those specific hours. The defendant was then sentenced to a fine.

JE 2011-1662