The name above Burgundy Lion's door is now a line being crossed

UPDATE, August 14 @ 12:58PM: The OQLF walked back its order, and Pub Burgundy Lion’s sign can remain as is.

Montreal’s Burgundy Lion is in the crosshairs of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)—this time over the three words that have hung above its door for nearly two decades.

During a recent francization review, Quebec’s language office flagged “Pub Burgundy Lion,” zeroing in on “Burgundy” under new rules that kicked in this summer.

The pub says its name speaks to where it lives—Little Burgundy—while the Office argues “Burgundy” reads as English. For now, the file is under analysis, not a done deal. 

On August 12, Lyle wrote on Facebook:

"Is this sign in English? The OQLF has decided it is, or more specifically that the name Burgundy is. Ignoring the historical and cultural significance of the name “Little Burgundy”. Burgundy Lion had a visit from the OQLF, and after informing me that my last name ‘Lyle’ is not a Quebecois name, the agent in question began to pick through what he considered to be language violations. Admittedly some were legitimate, things we’d overlooked on our website, which I was grateful to have had pointed out to me, and which were changed immediately. But telling me that our 17 year old sign, representing our institution and our involvement in the local community, is a step too far. We have been told to update the sign to add French words.

I’ve been relatively politically quiet since the pandemic, feeling that there’s enough serious stuff going on in the world, that the gripes of a small business owner were relatively inconsequential. But my issue with this case is that it contributes to the increasing polarization of our city and our province. We’re in a relatively unprecedented time of global and domestic turbulence, and issues like perceived English signage, are only perpetuated by the provincial government in an effort to divide the population and distract from the real issues that need to be addressed economically and socially.

It may officially be called Petite-Bourgogne but to most of the historical local population, it is Little Burgundy - A historic, culturally influential neighbourhood in Montreal that the Burgundy Lion has been fortunate enough to call home for over 17 years."

The legal frame is the story: when an enterprise name uses another language, the French on any sign visible from the street must be “markedly predominant”—in practice, the French wording needs to take up about twice the space and be just as legible. A business can satisfy this with a French descriptor or slogan alongside the name. The place-name carve-out is narrow: only official toponyms recognized by Quebec’s commission get a pass, and in French the neighbourhood is Petite-Bourgogne. 

Co-owner Toby Lyle says he’s fixed small website issues flagged by the Office but won’t alter the sign, arguing the name’s cultural weight in the area. The OQLF, for its part, says it’s providing “personalized support” through the francization process and hasn’t reached a conclusion. The pub has until Nov. 12 to file a plan; if non-compliant after that, fines can run from $3,000 to $30,000 per day, escalating for repeat offences.

In the days following, Burgundy Lion's been facing backlash. On August 14, Lyle wrote on Facebook:

"Hi everyone, I just wanted to take a second to thank you for the overwhelming support we’ve received over the OQLF signage issue. It’s been incredibly heartening to receive your messages through social, e-mails and texts.

I quickly want to address an issue that has stemmed from this whole hub bub. Someone has changed our google listing to ‘permanently closed’, and I want to assure you that we are indeed open for business. We have addressed it with google and the change should be made imminently. Also, if you want to help us out, we have been getting review bombed with 1 star reviews, from people who have never been to our pub. I would really appreciate it if you could take a minute or two and post a positive review on google or other review sites to counteract the keyboard warriors. But please, only send a review if you’ve actually visited the Burgundy Lion."