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Quebec's language law may force music gear off store shelves
OK, I'm going to tread carefully because this is a contentious subject but IMO the CBC is fearmongering here. I have lived 20 years in Montreal and 20 years in the EU so I'm pretty familiar with the language situation of several coutries and pretty much every non-English majority country has laws like that. I'm sure Poland is also a percent of a percent market and the food companies still manage to put Polish language labels on every item. Not just the big companies - even specialty items imported from Turkey have a Polish label stuck over the Turkish label. If anyone has bought any household item in the EU they're probably familiar with the instruction manuals in 25 languages. Somehow everyone in the world copes with different local languages. Nothing to see here IMO.
Speaking from a British viewpoint, it seems strange that people in Quebec seem happy to act as though they are still part of the French empire, despite the fact that has not been the case for over 250 years. However, a quick look on Wiki reveals that around 85% of the population speak French as their first language, so it makes sense to have French labels on merchandise.
Here in the UK we have quite a large number of Polish immigrants, and many Polish food shops in the large cities. I once went inside one and found that all the labels were in Polish, with no effort at all to label anything in English. That really grated with me and I did not feel like giving them any business, so I left and never went back. So, I see where this legislation is coming from, nobody wants to feel like a foreigner in their homeland.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
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Nightowl in the UK we have quite a large number of Polish immigrants
I think the difference might be that French is one of the official languages in Canada. Whenever we take a flight within BC (almost entirely English speaking), the law still requires that the safety procedure is repeated in French as well. All the labels on food products are bilingual as well. And things like Google AI etc are often released much later, because they can't just release the English language version until there is a French translation. So overall I think they are doing a good job here.
Not voicing an opinion on the original post because I agree with Bart, that's murky territory and living in an exclusively English speaking part of Canada, I can't judge one way or another 
Edit: this reminds me of when we stayed overnight at one of the Schiphol (Amsterdam) airport hotels a few years ago. Of course having grown up in the Netherlands I was excited to talk to the hotel staff in Dutch. First thing the receptionist (!) told me: "Sorry I don't speak Dutch, is it okay if we continue in English?" I mean, really, you live in a certain country, you work in a HOTEL and you don't speak the LOCAL language? That's unforgivable in my opinion! Ok, that was my rant of the evening 
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Sophia My understanding is that French is the official language in Quebec, and although it seems a bit strange to me, it's up the people of Quebec to lobby their politicians for change if they would prefer to have English as their official language.
Here in the UK our official language is English, so it makes sense for shops and businesses to label products and services in English. I have nothing against Polish people - we have many Polish people here and the ones I have met all seem to be hard working and speak good English, but the Polish shop was being run as though it was in Poland. Fortunately the numerous Chinese and Indian takeaways print their menus in English - the owners would not get much business if they operated in their native languages.
The story in your final paragraph is a perfect example of how NOT to assimilate to a country's language and culture. You must have been stunned. We Brits are really lucky as many countries in the world speak English as a second language, but I can't understand the mentality of moving to another country but not bothering to learn their language - that is not a good way for a person to integrate into their adopted country.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Nightowl My understanding is that French is the official language in Quebec, and although it seems a bit strange to me, it's up the people of Quebec to lobby their politicians for change if they would prefer to have English as their official language.
They lobbied pretty hard for French. 
When I started university with a double major in French and German, the separatist movement was going pretty strong. Literature, poetry, music had tales to tell which a few of our profs clarified. Quebec is still part of the country, and it's culturally enriching - while the US calls itself a melting pot, I've often seen us referred to as a patchwork quilt or mosaic
Not that the road hasn't been bumpy at times and still can be.
BartK OK, I'm going to tread carefully because this is a contentious subject but IMO the CBC is fearmongering here.
I had a bit of that impression as well. I'd want to know more about the extension of that bill which dates to 2022 with the last leg to be implemented by next summer.
I also wonder: products in Canada tend to all be bilingual English/French - wouldn't a great many be the same? Could they slap French labels on those that aren't? Like if clarinet reeds were shipped in from China en masse with labels only in Chinese, would they be left that way? I must say I haven't paid much attention, and probably should have.
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Nightowl We Brits are really lucky as many countries in the world speak English as a second language, but I can't understand the mentality of moving to another country but not bothering to learn their language
Haha true but that receptionist wasn't British... I forgot where they we from. English was definitely their second language. I just found it stunning that a person with such a job (hotel receptionist) could not speak or even understand the local language. At the very least you would expect they should be able to talk you through checking in...
It's more common for someone whose only words need to be "room service!"... in that case you don't necessarily expect much more.
But I guess this is veering a bit of topic 
I'm looking at the title again. "... may force music gear off store shelves....." Wouldn't they keep the gear on the shelves, but add labels themselves? Label printers aren't that hard to come by. How many products in Canada are actually unilingual English?
I'm now curious, for folks here living in non-English countries - when products come in from say the US, are they identified only in English, or also in the language your country uses? How about in music supply stores, (which is being pointed out here). Are clarinet reeds identified only as "clarinet reeds" without what they're called in Dutch, or Japanese, or Italian?
I've never thought about this before - or rather, I'd assumed they would be identified in a country's native language.
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keystring Wouldn't they keep the gear on the shelves, but add labels themselves? Label printers aren't that hard to come by. How many products in Canada are actually unilingual English?
Labelling boxes is labour intensive but certainly can be done. Many imported packet foods, for example, have a label added to show the nutritional information as per the Canadian standards, as well as ingredients listings in English and French. While Long & McQuade may feel it is not worth it for their business to spend staff time doing that, smaller stores that only operate in Quebec may be able to continue to (assuming they started when the legislation came in) whittle away at getting their product boxes properly labelled. What may be trickier is the electronic goods, as shown at the end of the video. Pretty cheesy to gum on labels on expensive electronic gear.
Like other Canadian posters, I don't see a problem with the general concept of needing to be able to provide goods and services in the official language of the province, which in Quebec is French. News stories have sometimes managed to ferret out what seem to be issues at the fringes (a month ago it was one about a cafe's Instagram post, for example).
keystring I'm now curious, for folks here living in non-English countries - when products come in from say the US, are they identified only in English, or also in the language your country uses? How about in music supply stores, (which is being pointed out here). Are clarinet reeds identified only as "clarinet reeds" without what they're called in Dutch, or Japanese, or Italian?
I don't know about clarinet reeds but electronic devices that have physical buttons (as opposed to touch screens that can easily be reprogrammed) are usually designed so buttons have descriptive icons instead of text labels and the accompanying instruction manual (in 25 languages) has a description of what the buttons do.
I noticed Americans have a tendency to use text labels for everything instead of icons and therefore products made for the North American market might be slightly more awkward to adapt to a multi-lingual standard.
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That is a good point about buttons on electronic devices. The thing about publications and commercial broadcasters is that often they use some emotional angle to hook the reader rather than a more dry, balanced approach. I'm looking at my two printers. (The HP is on its last legs, so the 'cheapo' Canon is a backup.) The HP has an electronic screen which can be programmed to display in other languages but still says "Color LaserJet Pro" embossed on the body (US spelling for "colour" ). The Canon has physical buttons saying "stop", "start". Will CBC/Radio Canada next tell us that stores selling electronics and office products, will not be able to sell Canon and Hewlett Packard products as of the summer of next year? Will printers and desktop computers also be "forced off the shelf"? That would be pretty bad economically for the province.
By chance I'll be right next to a Long and McQuade store next week --- have an ultrasound appointment and the building is next door. I might mosy over out of curiosity.