SNES Classic sold everywhere except in Quebec, Canada

[GoodBytes]

With the pre-order well under way for the coming up SNES Classic on Sept 29, 1 are in the world is getting some bad news. While the system, a miniaturized version Super Nintendo (SNES) of the console which include a 20 highly popular games of the time, with 1 title that was never released: Star Fox 2, and includes 2 full size original controller, all manufactured by Nintendo, will be sold in Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America, it will not be sold in a large part of Canada: The province of Quebec. Quebec with its 8.215 million people making the second largest province by population (Ontario being first), won't be getting the system. The reason? The packaging is not in French (a or some games might also not be in French).. While Quebec is bi-language in French and English, especially the region of Montreal and surrounding areas which has the most of the Quebec population, there is a law put in place by the province to "protect the French language, and the Quebec culture" fearing that the neighbor provinces speaking in English might people stop using French all together calling doom to the language and culture.

 

 

 

So, as no product not in French can be sold in Quebec (this also includes company names require to translate their names in French, and there is a big fight between the government and companies that always comes back in court.. costing Quebec citizen millions in taxes instead of being invested in much needed health care system and education), the SNES Classic can't be sold in Quebec.

 

People from the region of Quebec needs to travel to the US or neighboring province to acquire theirs.

Quote

The SNES Classic will launch in Canada on September 29, but not in Quebec, according to two EB Games employees in the Montreal area who spoke to Motherboard under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the matter. According to both employees, who were located at separate stores, this decision is related to the province's notoriously strict language requirements, which protect the use of French in the province and mandate that business be done in French.

All the stores with pre-orders including Best Buy, says that the product is not available in Quebec when you try to pre-order it as well.

Note: EB Games is GameSpot in Canada, if you wonder.

 

Source: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/08/snes_classic_edition_wont_be_sold_in_canadian_province_of_quebec

 

Do you live in Quebec? If so what is your reaction to this news?If you don't live there, but assuming this law is in your region and so the console is not available in your area, what do you think?

[You_are_a_cunt]

And this is why French Canada is not the best Canada.

[Guest]

Since some areas in Quebec are bi-language areas in the French and English language, why can't people living in those particular remote areas in Quebec buy the SNES classic because those areas are bi-language areas that in which include the French language. 

[Kevo05s]

As someone who USED to live there, and now lives in the province right beside, I feel sorry for them, but not that much... 
The law that made this happen IS stupid in a way but protecting the French's culture in another way. It's not the only stupid law they have... I'll remind you they are the only place in North America that couldn't participate to the Google Code Jam...

[Guest]

Just now, Kevo05s said:

As someone who USED to live there, and now lives in the province right beside, I feel sorry for them, but not that much... 
The law that made this happen IS stupid in a way but protecting the French's culture in another way. It's not the only stupid law they have... I'll remind you they are the only place in North America that couldn't participate to the Google Code Jam...

Well that sucks for them.

[Kevo05s]

3 minutes ago, TheBeastPC said:

Since some areas in Quebec are bi-language areas in the French and English language, why can't people living in those particular remote areas in Quebec buy the SNES classic because those areas are bi-language areas that in which include the French language. 

Because it's still under the province wide Law 101, which mandates that any goods sold in Quebec have French or bilingual packaging and content

Edited August 23, 2017 by Kevo05s
Grammar

[Misanthrope]

6 minutes ago, revsilverspine said:

And this is why French Canada is not the best Canada.

Actually I thought the restriction was nationwide: I remember superstore in Vancouver had absolutely everything also labeled in French. I guess most companies think "Well we might as well not guess what we're selling in Quebec just fucking label everything in French too"

[Unhelpful]

2 minutes ago, Kevo05s said:

Because it's still under the province wide Law 101, which mandates that any goods sold in Quebec have French or bilingual packaging and content

Which is absolutely asinine and hilarious.

[Kevo05s]

1 minute ago, JoeyDM said:

Which is absolutely asinine and hilarious.

Again, I understand why they want a law to protect their French culture, but they are pushing their luck on this one... 

[Guest]

So the reason why Quebec isn't receiving this product is simply because the packaging isnt written in French. Considering that quebec is a bi-language province, why cant they just include two different languages on the packaging (English and French).

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Kevo05s said:

Again, I understand why they want a law to protect their French culture, but they are pushing their luck on this one... 

I think that the solution to the problem is plain simple. But they dont realise it is.

[AshleyAshes]

5 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Actually I thought the restriction was nationwide: I remember superstore in Vancouver had absolutely everything also labeled in French. I guess most companies think "Well we might as well not guess what we're selling in Quebec just fucking label everything in French too"

The vast majority of products produced for Canada, with Canadian packaging, are bilingual so as to allow a single SKU across the entire country.  Quebec isn't the only place that Canadian's speak French so it's a bonus there.  However bilingual language laws are provincial in Quebec and not a matter of federal law and do not apply outside of Quebec.

[Guest]

it seems like in this case, the English language is taking over everything.

[Kevo05s]

1 minute ago, TheBeastPC said:

So the reason why Quebec isn't receiving this product is simply because the packaging isnt written in French. Considering that quebec is a bi-language province, why cant they just include two different languages on the packaging (English and French).

No, that's why this specific Item is controversial, the packaging itself has French, the problem is that SOME games aren't in French... Those games were originally allowed there because the law wasn't passed, and they weren't that fussy on digital stuff... And I understand why Nintendo will simply not sell in Quebec, instead of re writing the games to add french...

[Guest]

Just now, Kevo05s said:

No, that's why this specific Item is controversial, the packaging itself has French, the problem is that SOME games aren't in French... Those games were originally allowed there because the law wasn't passed, and they weren't that fussy on digital stuff... And I understand why Nintendo will simply not sell in Quebec, instead of re writing the games to add french...

Well then, why cant they both include the french and english language on the labels of the games.

[TimeOmnivore]

2 minutes ago, Kevo05s said:

Again, I understand why they want a law to protect their French culture, but they are pushing their luck on this one...

If their culture is so fragile that they need a law in place to maintain it, what does that say about the culture? Just seems like a waste of citizens' and government's time and money. That being said, good luck getting an SNES Classic anywhere, given Nintendo's recent history regarding availability.

[Misanthrope]

Just now, AshleyAshes said:

The vast majority of products produced for Canada, with Canadian packaging, are bilingual so as to allow a single SKU across the entire country.  Quebec isn't the only place that Canadian's speak French so it's a bonus there.  However bilingual language laws are provincial in Quebec and not a matter of federal law and do not apply outside of Quebec.

What about public servants? I thought they should be bilingual even outside of Quebec i.e. Any legal proceeding or such they need to be able to handle French too.

 

Well I might have understood that wrong obviously: this is a genuine question about the strange country of Canada.

[Kevo05s]

11 minutes ago, TheBeastPC said:

it seems like in this case, the English language is taking over everything.

That's why the law exists, Quebec (the governement, not the citizen)is still salty about back in the 1800s when the English tried multiple times to assimilate their French... 

 

9 minutes ago, TheBeastPC said:

Well then, why cant they both include the french and english language on the labels of the games.

they are IN the console... I remember when I bought games back there, half the time the cases were double wrapped to add the french booklet and cover on the games...
 

9 minutes ago, TimeOmnivore said:

If their culture is so fragile that they need a law in place to maintain it, what does that say about the culture? Just seems like a waste of citizens' and government's time and money. That being said, good luck getting an SNES Classic anywhere, given Nintendo's recent history regarding availability.

It's not, the people are tired of that bs from the government because they are the only one still salty about that
 

9 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

What about public servants? I thought they should be bilingual even outside of Quebec i.e. Any legal proceeding or such they need to be able to handle French too.

 

Well I might have understood that wrong obviously: this is a genuine question about the strange country of Canada.

This depends on the province and who is your "boss" is. The RCMP (royal canadian mounted police) needs to be bilingual, because they are under the Federal government, where they are officially bilingual, Province and/or City police will follow the province's requirement, where as it will mostly only be English, except Quebec where it's only in French they are required to talk, and New-Brunswick (where I live, only officially bilingual province) to speak both languages 

[PlayStation 2]

How would "SNES Classic" even translate to French in a proper manner?

[AshleyAshes]

5 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

What about public servants? I thought they should be bilingual even outside of Quebec i.e. Any legal proceeding or such they need to be able to handle French too.

 

Well I might have understood that wrong obviously: this is a genuine question about the strange country of Canada.

There are certain areas in the Federal Government which aim to achieve a certain level of french language or bilingual staff so as to suitably serve all citizens.  Public servants are not inherently required to be bilingual but you will see hiring quotas in regards to language skills so as to ensure that all Canadians can be served.  Obviously if one is seeking a public service position being bilingual would be an asset on your resume.  Every Canadian is entitled to service in either if the nation's official languages.

However for commercial products, firstly, it's important to remember that a lot of goods have unique Canadian packaging too, even if they're the same goods you could get in English speaking America.  As an example, Canada has different standards for food labeling than the United States so food products must meet those standards and since you are producing a 'Canadian SKU' you make it a bilingual Canadian SKU to allow you sell a single SKU nationally.

I'm not a French Canadian so I'm not 100% versed on the particulars of French language laws in regards to video games and such, however you'll often see boxed console games in Canada be 'double shrink wrapped', where the American English SKU is wrapped a second time to include a French language box cover/insert that the owner can then use to swap for the English insert once it's all unwrapped.

[Kevo05s]

Disclaimer: I love my country, Canada is great in so many ways! But Quebec is the black sheep of Canada, and, just like every country, we all have our problems. On the east side of the country, our roads are one of them... Our weather DESTROYS it in no time... We have a more "socialist oriented system" than our neighbour down south, but we still have some capitalist tendency. If any of you have any questions about how it is to grow up/live in eastern Canada as a French person, just hit me up, I'll happily answer you

[knightslugger]

32 minutes ago, Kevo05s said:

Because it's still under the province wide Law 101, which mandates that any goods sold in Quebec have French or bilingual packaging and content

welcome to the slippery slope.

[GoodBytes]

10 minutes ago, TimeOmnivore said:

If their culture is so fragile that they need a law in place to maintain it, what does that say about the culture? Just seems like a waste of citizens' and government's time and money. That being said, good luck getting an SNES Classic anywhere, given Nintendo's recent history regarding availability.

In reality the culture is very strong. But it is more insecurity than anything. I mean other region in Canada that speaks in French, which are a fraction of the size of Quebec, aren't affects by this, and have a fine culture. In Europe, this is no problem either with French culture, in fact having other languages has evolved their cultures, while the one in Quebec isn't moving since this law (amongst others).

 

To show how people are insecure about French, when Canada released the Census on the language spoken at home numbers, it shows, first (I'll get to that), that English was growing by a hint. And everyone freaked out on how French is dying. Anyway, it ended up being an error in Census results, and it was correct.

[Unhelpful]

Just now, GoodBytes said:

In reality the culture is very strong. But it is more insecurity than anything. I mean other region in Canada that speaks in French, which are a fraction of the size of Quebec, aren't affects by this, and have a fine culture. In Europe, this is no problem either with French culture, in fact having other languages has evolved their cultures, while the one in Quebec isn't moving since this law (amongst others).

 

To show how people are insecure about French, when Canada released the Census on the language spoken at home numbers, it shows, first (I'll get to that), that English was growing by a hint. And everyone freaked out on how French is dying. Anyway, it ended up being an error in Census results, and it was correct.

Yeah insecurity seems like a much better way to describe it. It's kinda odd to see as an outsider, tbh.

[AshleyAshes]

2 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

welcome to the slippery slope.

Well, no, with Bill 101 being passed in Quebec in 1977 and the law is doing the same with it has since 1977 with no major challenges.  It's not a 'slope' in any way or form, it's a pretty flat plane in fact.  You've just calling this a 'Slippery Slope' because your an outsider and you have no knowledge of this prior to today.  Look up the 'Apostrophe War' of the 1970's and 1980's if you want a better frame of reference.