MONTREAL – In order to comply with the province’s strict language laws, newly minted mayor of Montreal Michael Applebaum announced yesterday that he has officially changed his name to Michél Baum-de-la-Pomme.
“It is my duty as a mayor and a citizen to comply with the law,” said the newly elected official from his office. “And our province’s language laws are very clear that English names are, to quote s. 25 of Bill 101, ‘gross.’
The decision received a warm response from the city’s francophone community. “We feel that all mayors in Quebec have a responsibility to have a French name and are pleased to see that Monsieur Baum-de-la-Pomme has shown solidarity with Quebec’s official language,” said Louise Marchand from the Commission de protection de la langue française (CPLF).
Under the language laws the former Applebaum – the first anglophone mayor of Montreal in over 100 years – will still be able to use his anglophone name in certain circumstances, provided the French name is said first, and much, much louder.
Everyone in the vicinity will also be required to spit on the ground at least once upon hearing the English pronunciation.
Baum-de-la-Pomme has previously been criticized by some members of his own party for not speaking French well enough, but he believes the name change will help his French.
“I [can] say [to] you that I am happy with [my] new France name and that we ate grapefruits,” the Mayor stated in his adopted language. “I play hockey. Where is the discotheque?”
