The town of Russell has won a court case over language bylaws: on Friday, the Ontario Superior Court backed the town's right to require bilingual business signs.
Russell's mayor calls the ruling "common sense" and a total victory for their position, but the Embrun businessman who brought the case forward, Jean-Serge Brisson, says he's going to appeal.
"This is a huge violation of my freedom of expression. Where does protecting language stop?" Brisson asked. He added French to his sign only after the bylaw, passed in 2008, took effect.
The community, which is just southeast of Ottawa, is divided equally by population -- most francophone residents in Embrun, most anglophones in Russell.
The courts also ruled Brisson and the other complainants must pay the township's legal costs.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua
