> I'm so sorry to see that. One thing that I hope for is that this will change in the near future. At least for information technology businesses.

I have a vague understanding of the background of the law. I'm all for the right to preserve one's culture and heritage and I'm equally opposed to attempts to force one's culture and heritage on others.

I don't see the logic behind anything in the language laws that stands in the way of business. It seems that the language laws are a big deterrent to business in Montreal, more with the ability to do business outside of Montreal than inside. I think letting the people speak with their $ is the best way to handle this kind of stuff. Like Jim Nelson said, it's in your best interest to do business in the local language (when you're selling to the locals).

I'd love to see DevCon in Montreal (in the summer or early fall), but if it meant we had to go to the expense of translating our marketing materials and possibly our products into French it would probably be too cost prohibitive to participate. This is just an economic reality that seems to get lost.

> You're sure right about that. Why would anyone want go to another country if it's that much trouble. Should'nt it be a part of the NAFTA to make it easier with these issues? That's one of the things I don't understand about that deal.

I don't really know much about NAFTA, but if you're coming from Canada to work in the US or vice-versa, you need to obtain a work permit. This is pretty easy to get around when you're a consultant traveling by yourself, but when you're a company putting on a show and bringing a staff of 15 people or so, it could be a time consuming and costly issue. You also have to declare all of the equipment you're bringing in and sometime pay taxes on it. The same for the exhibitors. This is not an indicment of Canadian customs, it works both ways, but it would obviously be a big deterrent for a US company to hold a conference in Canada. I think the bottom line is that both countries view their borders as revenue streams and want to make money on business crossing the borders. These laws also exist to protect the citizens of each country but in a lot of cases, it looks like they miss the mark.

> Sorry if it looked like I wanted to make it look like a personal thing.

No offense taken.

> I don't know you and you don't know me.

It looks like we'll get to meet in January.

> I can't tell you how many times I heard persons say negative things about Montreal and giving all kinds of reasons not because of what they knew but because of what they heard.

It's a touchy situation. I know that when I've been in Ottawa I've been told numerous times to make sure I don't end up in Hull since I don't speak French. The one time I accidentally ventured into Hull I wasn't treated very well.

>I have to tell you (if you did'nt already knew it) that the language issue is a very delicate subject in the province of Quebec).

I know. I was hesitant to bring it up, but I see Montreal suggested as a place for DevCon all the time and I thought it was worthwhile to point out the potential problems with it. You, Sylvain, Michel, Jean-René and a lot of others here get to see first hand how these laws can negatively impact business and have the opportunity to vote to take those barriers away. You face a lot of tough issues and have to balance personal income and regional business opportunities against the intangible value of your culture, which seems to be next to impossible to do. I don't envy your position, that's for sure. It just seems like a shame to me when the laws get in the way of exposing the city and its culture to others. I'd think one of the best ways for Quebec to gain external support would be to be as open as possible to all languages and cultures and make is as attractive as possible to do business in Quebec. Most of the people I know that have a negative attitude towards Quebec have never been there.