The speech in English by the President and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, has now generated a record number of complaints to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.
• Read also: Ottawa calls for Air Canada CEO to be assessed on his ability to learn French
• Read also: Air Canada boss ignored warnings
As of Monday, more than 2,000 complaints have been made to the office of Commissioner Raymond Théberge.
The latter had specified last week that the complaints did not come only from Quebec.
Ironically, the air carrier had been warned by the Commissariat of the repercussions that the English-speaking discourse might provoke.
“We were concerned about the reaction [de la population]. […] In my opinion, it is unfortunate that our concerns were not accepted, ”said Mr. Théberge on LCN airwaves last week.
The situation had also aroused the ire of the political class in both Quebec and Ottawa after Michael Rousseau claimed to have been able to live very well in Montreal without learning French in response to a question from our journalist Pierre-Olivier Zappa.
Since the speech, Michael Rousseau has apologized and promised to learn French. A promise that did not go unnoticed in the office of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who asked Air Canada to ensure that its president learns the language of Molière.