François Legault wants to identify “the small minority” of presidents of Quebec companies who do not speak French in order to convince them to learn the official language of Quebec.
While in Shawinigan on Friday to present his new economic vision, the Prime Minister was asked to say whether he or a member of his entourage had intervened so that the big boss of SNC-Lavalin postpones or cancels his speech.
Ian Edwards was scheduled to speak to the Canadian Club of Montreal next Monday. However, he decided to postpone his presence over the next year, saying he wanted to prepare a presentation containing more French.
Mr. Legault mentioned that he had not taken any steps with SNC-Lavalin.
Believing that it is important for presidents of companies in Quebec to be able to express themselves in French, he affirmed that different approaches are analyzed in order to ensure their knowledge in the language of Molière.
“It would be to look at the situation as a whole; identify which presidents do not speak French and how we can convince them to learn French, ”said Mr. Legault.
“I think the vast majority of company presidents in Quebec are able to speak French. There is a small minority and we must act on this small minority to help them, accompany them, convince them. We are looking at different scenarios. ”
Earlier this month, Air Canada president Michael Rousseau sparked a linguistic storm with his comments to reporters. He was delighted to have been able to work and live in Quebec for several years without having to learn French.
Following this controversy, Mr. Rousseau announced that he had started taking French lessons.
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