Court rules in favour of Russell Township on bilingual sign bylaw

In a precedent-setting ruling for municipalities across the country, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled last month that Russell Township has the right to enforce bilingual signs for its businesses.

Superior Court Justice Monique Métivier issued a 32-page ruling on Friday, August 20, saying a 2008 township bylaw requiring commercial signs to be in both French and English does not violate residents' rights to freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Métivier dismissed the legal challenges of Howard Galganov, an English-rights activist, and Jean-Serge Brisson, a French-speaking garage owner and self-described political activist, both of whom had claimed that bilingual signage would be of little benefit to Russell Township's declining francophone population.

After the township approved the bylaw in June 2008, Galganov - who does not reside in Russell - installed an English-only sign in the window of a rented barbershop, while Brisson installed a French language sign on his 34-year-old business, Independent Radiator Services. The sign had previously been in English, and Brisson admitted in court to changing its language to contest the bylaw.

Russell Township defended the bylaw, saying it was necessary to protect the viability of the French-speaking community.

The township's 14,000 residents are divided almost equally in their mother tongue language, although figures from the 2006 census indicate 60 per cent exclusively use English at home. Most francophone residents reside in Embrun while most anglophones live in Russell.

The judge agreed with the township, saying "the protection of its French-speaking community [is] a legitimate societal concern which is pressing and substantial."

Métivier quickly dismissed Galganov's application as he is not a resident of the township, unlike Brisson; she later concluded there was no violation of Brisson's right to freedom of expression.

"Russell has established the vulnerability of the French language in its territory and this is the reason for the language policy reflected in the bylaw," Métivier wrote in her ruling. "Russell has also established that the aim of the language policy underlying the bylaw is a serious and legitimate one, namely to protect and assist the survival of the French language while promoting the equality of French and English."

Both men's applications were dismissed with costs, which are yet undetermined.

Russell Township Mayor Ken Hill said the case has cost the township's taxpayers at least $200,000, and he is adamant they should get their money back.

The township and its lawyers have 30 days to submit bids for a refund.

"The decision is excellent," said Hill. "It was clear from the outset. We live here together next to each other. This decision is now history in terms of respect for language rights in Canada."

Russell Township is the fourth municipality in the United Counties of Prescott-Russell to adopt such a bylaw, alongside The Nation, Clarence-Rockland and Casselman. The Russell bylaw will apply to new signs; those installed before the bylaw can remain as is.

In an editorial on his website, Galganov said he would appeal the ruling in Toronto.

"Imagine that... A law that is supposed to help promote and protect the French language, at the expense of the English language, that makes the standalone use of the French language illegal," he wrote.

"This court challenge against a law that blatantly violates every person's freedom of expression is no small deal. If we lose, it will mean that every bureaucrat in Canada, including pissant mayors in small towns, will have the right to suspend civil rights and liberties.

"But we won't lose."