‘Go Habs Go’ is a NO: Quebec orders STM to drop English word from bus messages
Posted April 24, 2025 8:28 am.
Last Updated April 24, 2025 4:14 pm.
“Go Habs Go” is a popular chant used by fans of the Montreal Canadiens and it can certainly be heard across the city during this playoff season, but Montrealers won’t be seeing the cheer on bus signs anymore.
As first reported by the Montreal Gazette, the province’s language watchdog told the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) to drop the word ‘Go’ from its electronic bus messages after a complaint was filed with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) last year.
The complaint received was about a message displaying “GO! CF MTL GO!” on a bus’s weather vane.
“Given that the word “Go” is considered an Anglicism, the STM committed to removing this word from bus weather vanes in the future,” explained Isabelle Tremblay, a spokesperson with the STM.
“Note that the Anglicism “Go” was replaced with “Allez Montréal”; “Allez! CF MTL Allez!”, etc,” she explained. “This maintains team spirit while complying with Law 14.”
“Everybody just says it for fun, it’s quicker, it’s faster, it’s catchier, what’s the big deal?” asked Maria D-M. “We have a lot of other issues with this city than that, the priority is in the wrong place.”
Starting last fall, the STM gradually updated the weather vanes on its entire bus fleet, of 2,000 busses.
This was completed early this year “due to the constraints of the current, aging system,” the STM said.
“Since the messages had to be manually changed on each vehicle, the process took several months before the change was completed on all buses,” Tremblay explained.
In a statement to CityNews, the OQLF said they contacted the STM to inform them of the complaint and they informed the STM that, “in accordance with the Charter of the French Language, the Authority’s organizations must use the French language in an exemplary fashion, which implies not using English terms in their signage. Indeed, under the Charter, the Administration’s organizations have a duty to set an example.”
“The Office adopts a supportive approach to government organizations, and never imposes one type of correction over another. Administrative bodies may submit a proposal to the Office, which will check whether it meets the requirements of the Charter,” writes Gilles Payer, spokesperson for the Office québécois de la langue française.
‘Embarrassment to Quebec’
The Task Force on Linguistic Policy, a Quebec non-profit advocating linguistic rights, said in a news release on Thursday morning that this OQLF decision is “an embarrassment to Quebec.”
“This is an expression every hockey loving Quebecer, including Premier Legault and his cabinet have said sometime in their lives,” said Task Force president Andrew Caddell. “This is one of a long line of language gaffes: first ‘Pastagate,’ then ‘Bonjour-Hi,’ now this.”
The organization added that this comes as hundreds of journalists from around the world descend on Montreal to cover the Stanley Cup playoff games between the Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals.
Caddell points out, “this will make our city and province and international laughing stock.”
He notes there is a serious aspect to this story, however: “Bill 96 insists on the exemplary and primary use of French, which means French takes precedence over everything, even common sense.”
Law 14, previously known as Bill 96 before it was enacted in 2022, toughened the Charter of the French Language — Bill 101.
“This is why the Task Force has taken Bill 96 to court,” added Caddell. “It does little to improve the status of French in Quebec, and openly discriminates against the English speaking community.”
Caddell said that Mayor Valerie Plante has to stand up and “oppose this ridiculous decision. Bring back Go Habs Go!”
“I’m all for protecting the French language, but there’s also a certain tradition in the word habs, it comes from a long time ago, so we can keep the word. I don’t think that’s what’s going to affect the French language, but we could put both languages as a gesture of good will,” said a Montrealer CityNews spoke to.
Another Montrealer, Brayden Feeney, says, “People in the stadium chant it, it’s a cultural saying, it’s not so much a language thing so I think it’s unfortunate that it got banned.”
The public transit agency added that this type of message provided STM employees with a way to salute national sports teams, support the STM’s official partners, and establish the STM as a key player in its community.
“It should be noted that the use of the word “Go” in a sports context is also consistent with the well-known messages of these “Go Montréal” sports teams,” said Tremblay.
“It allowed for quick understanding,” she added. “And a sense of belonging to these teams.”
Politicians react
Interim Leader of the Québec Liberal Party Marc Tanguay said that it was a “waste of time.”
“We don’t need to have someone in the [OQLF] saying it’s bad,” said Tanguay. “It’s ridiculous, it’s ludicrous.”
Tanguay ending his Thursday morning press conference at the National Assembly with, “Go, Habs, Go!”
“For me, it has no impact on the protection of the French language,” said Ruba Ghazal, co-leader of Québec Solidaire. “What’s most important is to ensure that, for example, in companies, [like] Air Canada or other companies, that [those in leadership positions] speak French… and also to finance all the French courses for the people […] who come to Montreal.”
In Quebec City on Thursday, the move was widely panned by opposition parties, including the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, which positions itself as a champion of the French language.
“We have other priorities for the French language in Quebec,” said PQ MNA Catherine Gentilcore, adding that Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon will continue to use #GoHabsGo on the X platform.
The Quebec Community Groups Network, which represents English-speaking Quebecers, dismissed the decision as “silliness” in a social media post, and said the language watchdog and the transit agency “scored on their net.”
“EVERYONE yells #GoHabsGo! at the Bell Centre,” the group said. “Our buses should be allowed to do the same.”
-With files from The Canadian Press
