TALQ of the town: Anglo-rights group QCGN rebrands
The Quebec Community Groups Network is becoming TALQ, a new name for an anglophone advocacy group that has grown more assertive in recent years and now wants to reach out to francophone Quebecers.
The old name “doesn’t reflect what we are today and where the community wants to go,” president Eva Ludvig told The Gazette last week as the organization prepared to announce its rebrand on Wednesday. “We also realize how difficult it is for us to reach the majority here in Quebec — the francophone, monsieur et madame Tout-le-Monde.”
The new name “dispels the ‘us vs. them’ perception,” she said. “We celebrate the vibrancy of the English-speaking community in a profoundly French Quebec.” TALQ (pronounced “talk”) is a standalone name and not an abbreviation, the organization says, though a tagline will also be used: ”Talking. Advocating. Living in Québec.” The “Q” at the end of TALQ is a nod to Quebec. The accent in the province’s name — often omitted by English speakers — acknowledges Quebec’s French identity.
The organization, which did not disclose the cost of the rebranding, is also replacing its orange logo with blue, a colour historically associated with Quebec. The new name is “English in origin, anchored in Quebec and proud of its bilingual spirit.” Ludvig said the group will remain a strong voice for anglophones while seeking deeper engagement with the francophone majority. “Talking is as much about being heard as it is about listening,” Ludvig said.
Trevor Ham, a consultant on the rebranding project, said the new name will help “rejuvenate” the brand. “QCGN is a mouthful, as is Quebec Community Groups Network,” he said. TALQ is a “conversation starter, it’s bridging the gap, an outstretched hand,” Ham said. “Conversation is something we all share. There’s humanity behind conversation. You don’t need to take up arms if you can sit down at a table and talk about things and have rational conversations.”
A federally funded nonprofit, the QCGN is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It was born in the wake of the October 1995 Quebec referendum. Alliance Quebec, a prominent anglophone rights group, had fallen apart amid internal divisions. To fill the vacuum, several anglophone groups formed the QCGN. It has long been a defender of anglophone rights. In 2014, for example, the organization warned that the Quebec Liberal government’s health reform threatened access to English health services. But its advocacy became more assertive after Premier François Legault came to power.
Before the 2018 election, Legault, a former Parti Québécois minister who promised not to hold a sovereignty referendum, wooed the anglophone community. Once he took power, many of his Coalition Avenir Québec’s laws didn’t sit well with English speakers.