“Keep it, your English!”, a year later…

VANCOUVER – The cry from the heart of Quebecer Marc-Antoine Dequoy, of the Montreal Alouettes, has been heard. A year later, bilingual logos are clearly visible at BC Place in Vancouver, as part of the current Gray Cup final.

“Keep it, your English!”, Dequoy notably launched, in an anthological lyrical flight, after the triumph of the Alouettes, on November 19, 2023, in Hamilton.

“It’s good to see that it’s bilingual and that French is respected, I’m happy to know that,” reacted Dequoy, in a telephone interview with The Journalwhen it was reported that commendable efforts had been made by the Canadian Football League to correct the situation.

The change is so obvious that even certain doors leading to the locker room of the different teams, with supporting photo, even display a unilingual logo in French.

A year ago, despite the presence of the Montreal club in Hamilton, the displays were practically only in English inside Tim Hortons Field, which particularly shocked Dequoy. It should be remembered that this slap was in addition to the fact that the national anthem had been sung only in the English language, a week earlier, during the Eastern final in Toronto.

The TV guide for the sports channel TSN, which had obviously not anticipated such a run for the Alouettes in 2023, also announced a final duel between Toronto and Winnipeg. As a joke, we will add that such a confrontation will ultimately have been predicted a year in advance while the Argonauts and the Blue Bombers will indeed meet on Sunday in Vancouver, as part of the 111^e Gray Cup.

“A year later, I can say that I have never regretted what I said and I will never apologize for it either,” Dequoy said. And with what we see this week in Vancouver [au niveau de l’affichage]it just proves that it didn’t fall on deaf ears.”

“Dequoy was not wrong”

Redha Kramdi, Blue Bombers color wearer since 2021 and former teammate of Dequoy with the University of Montreal Carabins, is mainly focused on Sunday’s match. He nevertheless admits to having appreciated the release of his good friend last year, and applauds the appearance, among the different visuals used, of a perfectly bilingual logo, where the word “Coupe” and the word “Cup” are found. on an equal footing.

“The way Marc-Antoine delivered his message was perhaps not completely perfect, but his message was relevant and should be listened to,” said Kramdi. Sometimes we say that whether an advertisement is good or bad, it remains an advertisement. Ultimately, his message had to be heard and it was. Dequoy was not wrong and we see it today.”

Without necessarily wanting to dwell on the issue, Anthony Vandal also reacted positively to the famous bilingual logo which, during the media day on Wednesday, was right behind him during the period of individual interviews.

“It’s a nice touch, because it’s important to represent both official languages, that’s for sure,” the Argonauts recruit briefly commented.

Good words for Jason Maas

An eternal defender of the French language, Dequoy also applauded the nomination of Jason Maas as coach of the year in the CFL, an award which was awarded to him during a gala presented Thursday evening in Vancouver.

If he first praised the leadership of Maas, the Quebecer did not fail to highlight the efforts of the coach so that the French-speaking fact is respected in the locker room, which contributes, according to him, to forging the team identity.

“Jason has always had a respect for the French language since his arrival with the team,” praised Dequoy.

Regarding Sunday’s game in Vancouver, please note that the national anthem will once again be sung in both official languages, as was the case last year in Hamilton, as well as in the years previous ones.