Montreal lawyer Brent Tyler was back in court Wednesday defending dozens of merchants who claim they have been harassed by the language police.
The small businesses were fined for having too much English on their signs or, in some cases, their websites.
Clifford Oswald opened a shop on Monkland Ave. in NDG in 1990, and he’s been fighting the language police ever since.
"I was fined because I had the words vitraux and stained glass in the same size," said Oswald.
Oswald refused to make the English half the size and was fined $50 plus court costs.
He refused to pay, saying he would do community work or go to jail, but he would not pay for it and the sign would not come down.
In 1997, a bailiff came to his home to seize furniture for non-payment, taking "a couple of rocking chairs, television sets."
Oswald received a second fine for his sign last year, but that case was later dropped.
Tyler, the lawyer, has been fighting aspects of Bill 101 for years. He is now arguing the sign law should be struck down.
In court Wednesday, he argued parts of the law are an affront to human dignity and that the law violates international treaty obligations on freedom of expression.
"The idea that their language should be half the size of the french is a problem for them," said Tyler.
Tyler will present expert evidence that the French language is far from vulnerable in Quebec Thursday.
But on Friday, the prosecution will have its own expert witness: a demographer who will argue French is in fact decline in Montreal and needs protecting.
