he Monkland Tavern is now the Monkland Taverne, due to the language watchdog's pathetic demands that its sign be in French. The Monk normally featured signs in both languages anyway, but in March, a complainant alerted the language police. The 50-year-old neon landmark came down and the new sign went up.

It’s unfortunate to take down a sign that’s been up there for almost 50 years. The tavern even won a heritage prize last year in part because of that very ‘50’s neon sign. But the Office de la langue Française ruled the English sign was too large. So, a new sign that was a scaled down was erected, and should sanctify Big (Française) Brother. - B.J.