Sign of respect

A man contacted us to flag the fact that the signage identifying the Ontario Provincial Police Central Region Headquarters in Orillia was only in English.

Among the nine prescribed measures for ensuring an active offer of service in French in Ontario Regulation 544/22, Measure 5 says that signs identifying an agency’s offices or services “shall include the written text in both English and French in equal prominence.”

Result: We raised the issue with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officials, who recognized that, although their head office is not located in a designated region, as an agency of the provincial government, they are subject to the French Language Services Act. The sign on the building was changed, and the OPP also committed to updating other signs, such as those relating to deliveries, visitors and fire routes.