2000-11-22|La Charte de la langue française

Affidavit

  1. I am a professional engineer (engineering physics), and I reside at the following address.

  2. I am the President & Chief Executive Officer of HyperInfo Canada Inc., a small federally-incorporated business (1 person) with a head office located at the following address.

  3. Since 1989, HyperInfo Canada Inc. has conducted research and development on information superhighway and artificial intelligence as well as Internet website hosting and on-line publishing services, etc. I hold 2 patents on "Multi-Lingual Knowledge Matrix Method and System".

  4. In 1995, I conceived "Knowledge Export on the Internet", a knowledge export business to the global market using electronic commerce. I created HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre on the Internet in 1996 in order to sell on-line educational materials, and I have served as Systems Administrator (Webmaster/Postmaster) since then. Both the home page and most of the on-line publications for sale at the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website, which has received a number of Internet awards and nominations, were only in English because the original source materials for an American audience and reprint rights had been purchased from the U.S.A. Here is a brief listing of highly-focused educational products at HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre.

  5. The unique nature of these on-line pay-per-read services is that an index of each service contains tens or sometimes hundreds of hyperlinks. Each hyperlink leads to a short text that a customer would purchase via electronic commerce, but the low-cost product itself is only a single webpage (1 to 10+ pages, if printed). Please note that nobody from la Commission de protection de la langue française has bothered to purchase any of the products at the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website in order to verify the unique nature of the knowledge export business.

  6. Some of the English-only educational products at the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website are applicable to any common-law jurisdiction, i.e., in all states and provinces in North America except for Louisiana and Québec which are civil-code jurisdictions. There is no equivalent substitute in French, but the common-law legal know-how has zero value in civil-code Québec.

  7. The HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website has made hundreds of dollars in the last 5 years, mostly from the U.S.A., some from the rest of Canada and abroad, but none ($0.00) from the Province of Québec. I am proud of having contributed to the Economy of Québec by exporting educational knowledge from the Province of Québec to the global market.

  8. I received a Letter from la Commission de protection de la langue française stating that the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website violated articles 52 and 57 of la Charte de la langue française, as shown in the excerpt below.

    La Charte de la langue française
    52. Les catalogues, les brochures, les dépliants, les annuaires commerciaux et toute autre publication de même nature doivent être rédigés en français.
    57. Les formulaires de demande d'emploi, les bons de commande, les factures, les reçus et quittances sont rédigés en français.

  9. Realising that a bilingual website does not violate articles 52 and 57 of la Charte de la langue française, I made the First-level webpage (home page) and the Second-level webpages of the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website completely bilingual [English, Français] with great time and effort, and replied to la Commission de protection de la langue française.

  10. Despite the extensive re-design of the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website to make the First-level webpage (home page) and the Second-level webpages completely bilingual [English, Français], I received a Mise en demeure from la Commission de protection de la langue française, stating that the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website still did not comply with article 52 of la Charte de la langue française, as shown in the excerpt below.

    La Charte de la langue française
    52. Les catalogues, les brochures, les dépliants, les annuaires commerciaux et toute autre publication de même nature doivent être rédigés en français.

  11. I was intimidated, and I decided to shut down the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website because the company did not have the resources to translate the Third-level webpages containing unilingual [English only] indexes of more than a thousand pay-per-read offerings, and replied to la Commission de protection de la langue française.

  12. I also issued a News Release to that effect.

  13. Subsequently, I came up with the idea of differentiating between visitors from Québec and visitors from elsewhere by making use of the Server-Side Include (SSI) technology, so I re-opened the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website. The visitors to the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website are now selectively directed to different First-level webpages (home pages) depending on the domain-name suffix of each visitor. Thus, the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website remains closed for the visitors from Québec, i.e., ".qc.ca". Since this detection method is not 100% accurate because some visitors from Québec have domain-name suffix other than ".qc.ca", e.g, ".aol.com", I also placed an explicit notice on the First-level webpage (home page) stating that the services at the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website are not available to the residents of Québec due to la Charte de la langue française, similar to the way that pornographic websites legally make their services available only to adults over 18 years old.

  14. Recently, I received a Constat d'infraction stating that the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website violated articles 52 and 205 of la Charte de la langue française, as shown in the excerpt below.

    La Charte de la langue française
    52. Les catalogues, les brochures, les dépliants, les annuaires commerciaux et toute autre publication de même nature doivent être rédigés en français.
    205. Quiconque contrevient à une disposition de la présente loi ou des règlements adoptés par le gouvernement en vertu de celle-ci commet une infraction et est passible pour chaque infraction, d'une amende de 250 $ à 700 $ dans le cas d'une personne physique et de 500 $ à 1 400 $ dans le cas d'une personne morale.

  15. I claim that the 2 First-level webpages [English/Français] and the 2 Second-level webpages [English, Français] of the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website are "catalogues in two separate versions". Therefore, the 2 First-level webpages [English/Français] and the 2 Second-level webpages [English, Français] fully comply with the "Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business", as shown in the excerpt below.

    Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business
    10. Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications may be in two separate versions, one exclusively in French, the other exclusively in another language, provided that the material presentation of the French version is available under no less favourable conditions of accessibility and quality than the version in the other language.

  16. I claim that the plurality of Third-level webpages [English only] of the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website are not "catalogues" but "indexes" or "tables of contents", i.e., "inscriptions on educational products". Therefore, the plurality of Third-level webpages [English only] qualify as "Exceptions to Section 51 of the Charter of the French Language" under the "Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business", as shown in the excerpt below.

    Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business
    2. An inscription on a cultural or educational product such as a book, magazine, publication, disk, film or tape, or on a non promotional greeting card, appointment book or calendar, may be exclusively in a language other than French if the content is in a language other than French or if the cultural or educational product, greeting card, appointment book or calendar has no language content.

  17. I claim that the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website offers on-line educational products concerning educational activities. Therefore, the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website qualifies as "Exceptions to Section 52 of the Charter of the French Language" under the "Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business", as shown in the excerpt below.

    Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business
    11. Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications concerning a cultural or educational product within the meaning of section 2, concerning a cultural or educational activity such as a show, recital, speech, lecture, course, seminar or radio or television program or promoting a news medium may be exclusively in a language other than French provided that the content of the cultural or educational product is in that other language, the activity is held in that other language or the news medium publishes or broadcasts in that other language, as the case may be.

  18. I claim that the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website offers knowledge export business on the global market outside Québec. Therefore, the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website qualifies as "Exceptions to Section 52 of the Charter of the French Language" under the "Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business", as shown in the excerpt below.

    Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business
    3. An inscription on a product may be exclusively in a language other than French in the following cases:

    (1) the product is intended for a market outside Québec.

  19. I claim that the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website offers products from outside Québec having limited use in Québec, as explicitly stated in the 2 First-level webpages [English/Français]. Therefore, the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website qualifies as "Exceptions to Section 52 of the Charter of the French Language" under the "Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business", as shown in the excerpt below.

    Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business
    3. An inscription on a product may be exclusively in a language other than French in the following cases:

    (5) the product is from outside Québec and is in limited use in Québec and no equivalent substitute presented in French is available in Québec.

  20. Please note that l'Office de la langue française properly interprets that "English media Web sites" and "products of a cultural or educative nature" could use English exclusively without violating la Charte de la langue française, as shown in the excerpt below.

    The Charter of the French Language and Web Sites
    The Office applies to Web sites the same rules and exceptions as those concerning commercial advertising. English media Web sites could thus use English exclusively without violating the Charter. In addition, products of a cultural or educative nature may be advertised exclusively in the language of the product, without a French version.

  21. Please note that l'Office de la langue française properly interprets that "products are often destined only for exportation", and products not available in Québec do not violate la Charte de la langue française, as shown in the excerpt below.

    The Charter of the French Language and Web Sites
    Aware of the fact that the Internet is now used by companies as a means of advertising products on the global market, which products are often destined only for exportation, the Office de la langue française will apply a simple rule: a French version must be provided only in the case of advertisements posted on the Web site of a company located in Québec for products available in Québec.

  22. Therefore, it is respectfully submitted that the objection of la Commission de protection de la langue française should be withdrawn, that the charge should be dropped, and that the case should be dismissed.

  23. In view of these submissions of arguments as to why the HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre website does indeed fully comply with la Charte de la langue française, favourable consideration by the judge or the jury is respectfully requested.

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