Canadian man sues parliament after claiming bubblers made him feel like a ‘second-class citizen’

A French-speaking Canadian is a richer today after claiming water bubblers in his country’s parliament building made him feel like a “second-class citizen”.

Montreal man Michael Thibodeau took the Senate to court earlier this year, claiming the English-labelled drinking fountains — with the word “push” embossed into the metal button — had violated his language rights.

Canada’s Federal Court ordered the Senate to pay Mr Thibodeau $C1500 ($A1659) as compensation and his court costs — $C700 ($A774).

In his judgment delivered last week, Federal Court Justice Luc Martineau ruled Canada’s parliament had “failed to meet its obligations” under the country’s Official Languages Act, CTV News reported.

Other bubblers in Canada’s Parliament Hill precinct had been embossed with braille for blind people but none had the word “poussez” — French for push — on them.

Mr Thibodeau, who is well-known for claiming his language rights have been violated in court, initially filed a complaint with the Senate in September 2016 after working in the buildings as a public servant since 1997.

In response to Mr Thibodeau’s initial complaint, the Senate quickly installed bilingual signs above the bubblers that read, “to activate the water fountain, please push the button”, in both English and French.

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