Ottawa language rights activist Michel Thibodeau has lost his appeal for damages over unilingual construction signs that went up around Parliament Hill, even though the court agreed his rights were violated.
What the signs said
The signage at issue included yellow "caution" signs, ones held by construction workers that read "slow" and "stop," and a sign warning of "danger due to work overhead." All of them were posted around the parliamentary precinct without a French equivalent, prompting Thibodeau to file 13 separate complaints with the Official Languages Commissioner.
Thibodeau had sought $19,500 in total damages from the federal government, working out to $1,500 for each of the 13 complaints.
The court's ruling
The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Thibodeau's appeal despite finding that his language rights had in fact been violated. Justice Vanessa Rochester wrote the decision on behalf of a three-judge panel, concluding that "in the very specific circumstances of this case, the remedies sought by Mr. Thibodeau should not be granted."
That echoed an earlier finding from a Federal Court judge, who had already determined that a damage award in this case would be "inappropriate or unjust."
Why the court pushed back
She also wrote that his actions were "inconsistent with the spirit and the letter" of a settlement he had previously reached with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the department responsible for managing the signage on the construction site.
That history mattered to the panel's decision. Even though the underlying complaints had merit, the court appeared to view the repeat filings, coming after Thibodeau had already settled a similar dispute with PSPC, as working against his case for fresh compensation.
The Commissioner already sided with him
This isn't the first time Thibodeau's complaints have been validated. In a July 2021 report, the Official Languages Commissioner concluded that all of his complaints were well-founded and that PSPC had breached its obligations under the Official Languages Act by allowing the signage to go up without French translations.
PSPC, for its part, has said it does have agreements in place with its contractors requiring signage in both official languages.
Why it matters in Ottawa
For a city where bilingualism is written into daily life, cases like this test how seriously that obligation is enforced on one of the country's most visible and heavily trafficked work sites. This latest ruling shows that even a validated complaint doesn't guarantee compensation once a court weighs the surrounding circumstances.
Sources: Yahoo News Canada
