Le Devoir writes that the Québec government is asking FACIL, a non-profit association that promotes the use of open source software, to pay over 100,000$ of its lawyers’ fees. These fees were incurred when FACIL sued a service centre run by the government for giving a $10 million contract to Microsoft without a call for tenders. The case was thrown out of court, but the government wants FACIL to pay. FACIL has a 5,000$ annual budget, so the bill sent by the government would put FACIL out of business.
The group contends that the use of open source software would reduce the governments operating costs, and promote local job creation. The article also mentions that open source software has seen an increased use in Europe in the last year, fueling a $7 billion market.