SNC-Lavalin boss Ian Edwards reports sine die the speech only in English that he was to deliver next Monday in front of the Montreal business community. He is waiting to be able to deliver a speech that “contains more French, the official language of Quebec”.
“I want to take the time necessary to better prepare my presentation and ensure that it contains more French, the official language of Quebec, to better meet the expectations of all our interlocutors,” he explains in a letter sent to the Canadian Club of Montreal on Thursday.
Based in Quebec since 2014, Ian Edwards has been running SNC-Lavalin since October 2019. He has been trying to learn French since his arrival, but has only obtained “mixed results” so far, in his own words. The CEO specifies that he has taken ” […] the commitment to make the necessary efforts to follow language training to the best of my ability ”.
The cancellation of this unilingual speech comes a week after the outcry over that of Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau before the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. More than 2,000 complaints were filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages about this conference. Mr. Rousseau apologized the day after his speech, but the controversy subsequently spread to the highest levels of power in the country. Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote a letter to Air Canada’s board of directors this week calling for knowledge of French to become an “important criterion” for obtaining promotions.
“The recent events surrounding the place given to the French language in Canadian and Quebec companies have led me to make this decision, and to postpone my commitment over the next year”, underlines the CEO of SNC-Lavalin in his missive. “I fully understand the Quebec reality and the importance for our employees, customers and partners of providing a respectful workplace for all”.
“Beyond language, respect for cultural heritage and recognition of its importance remain a priority for all of us. In addition, rest assured that within the company, our Francization Committee continues to act diligently by ensuring the continuous improvement of our ways of doing things with regard to the place and use of French ”, adds Ian Edwards.
The planned speech was to address “the fundamental transformation of [la] culture, [la] structure and [les] activities ”of SNC-Lavalin, headquartered in Montreal. This engineering and construction giant has been embroiled in several corruption scandals in recent years. Two former SNC-Lavalin executives were arrested last month and charged with fraud and corruption.
“Our company has undergone a significant culture change over the past ten years and this is essential in building a prosperous, trusted company with which Quebec and Canada can identify,” notes Ian Edwards in his letter.
The latter indicates that he wants to “meet the members of the Canadian Club […] over the next year ”. This organization, founded in 1905, regularly brings together major bosses to discuss major economic guidelines. The Canadian Club presents itself as “the meeting place for CEOs”.