At the origin of a linguistic storm last fall, Michael Rousseau promised changes “with regard to French”, but has not yet responded, two months later, to the invitation of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) to engage Air Canada in a process to obtain a francization certificate, has learned The Press.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Recipient of a letter from the president and chief executive officer of the institution, Ginette Galarneau, the president and chief executive officer of the largest air carrier in the country instead asked two members of his inner circle to respond to the Office for explain that the company was strengthening “its official languages practices”. These documents were obtained under the Law on access to documents of public bodies and the protection of personal information.
The president of the OQLF had written to Mr. Rousseau in the wake of his appearance before the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) on November 3 last. On the sidelines of a speech delivered almost exclusively in English, the president of Air Canada had caused an outcry by acknowledging that he had been able to live peacefully in Quebec, where he has been living since 2007, without speaking French – the official language of the province.
I invite you to do like many companies that have demonstrated their commitment to French, as well as their respect for the language rights of the Quebec population, and to register Air Canada with the Office so that your company can initiate a francization process. .
Excerpt from the letter from Ginette Galarneau sent on November 12 to Michael Rousseau
In its response dated November 18, the air carrier makes no mention of a possible registration with the Agency. On Wednesday, the OQLF indicated that “to date”, Air Canada was not a company registered with the institution, which “remains available to support it in a francization process”.
Montreal is home to the head office of Air Canada, which is subject to the Official Languages Act. Criticized from all sides, Mr. Rousseau apologized and promised to learn the language of Molière. His learning continues, according to the airline.
An OQLF certification is given to a company when the use of French is “generalized at all levels of the company”. Companies like Walmart, Transat AT, Bombardier, Reitmans and CGI are among the list of companies that have obtained a certificate.
To obtain it, a company can, for example, adopt a linguistic hiring policy requiring knowledge of French and purchasing policies aimed at using the language of Molière with suppliers, explains the Office, on its website.
In the study
Air Canada responded to the Agency on November 18. The letter is not signed by Mr. Rousseau, the recipient of Mr.me Galarneau, but by the general vice-president of public affairs, Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, and the vice-president of commercial affairs, Lucie Guillemette.
They emphasize that they have been instructed by Mr. Rousseau to “review and strengthen [les] Official Languages Practices” of Air Canada.
“The support proposed by the Office will be studied in the context of this review exercise and with regard to our obligations under the Official Languages Act “, they write.
In their response to the OQLF, Mmy Melol-Wechsler and Guillemette invite Mme Galarneau to consult the air carrier’s 2020-2023 Language Action Plan. According to this document, approximately 50% of new Air Canada “front line” employees “speak both French and English” since 2017.
“Priority” would also always be given to “bilingual candidates”, it is written.
Repeat complaints
The OQLF received about 130 complaints against Mr. Rousseau and the airline last year – the highest number for a single event.
“The filing of such a high number of complaints with the Office testifies to the dissatisfaction of the Quebec population,” wrote Ms.me Galarneau, referring to the speech by the Air Canada executive before the CCMM.
On average, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages receives 85 complaints a year against Air Canada for failure to respect the rights of Francophones. More than 2,500 complaints have been filed since Mr. Rousseau’s appearance before the CCMM. They are currently under study.
Air Canada has been criticized on several occasions over the years in terms of language. In 2016, the Office of the Commissioner prepared a report that looked specifically at the company and identified serious systemic compliance problems within the airline with respect to official languages.