(Ottawa) Complaints about the Air Canada boss’s English speech continue to multiply, as Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland asks him to learn French.
In a letter sent to the chairman of the board of directors of the airline on Monday, she expresses the federal government’s “disappointment” with Air Canada and questions “the quality of governance” it exercises.
The speech almost exclusively in English delivered by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Rousseau, last Wednesday before the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and his remarks on French “are completely incompatible with the commitment made by the Company to respect for both official languages since the very first days of the privatization of Air Canada, ”she wrote to the chairman of the carrier’s board of directors, Vagn Sørensen.
“As the Prime Minister said:” it is an unacceptable situation “, continues the one who also combines the function of Minister of Finance. She recalls from the outset that the Canadian government owns 6% of the outstanding shares of the air carrier.
PHOTO LARS HAGBERG, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland.
The boss of Air Canada unleashed a language storm last week by delivering a speech in English in Montreal, despite warnings from a member of François Legault’s cabinet in Quebec City and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in Ottawa. Only a few sentences in French had been added. Mr. Rousseau then told reporters that he had lived in the metropolis for 14 years without having to learn French, which was “to the credit” of the city.
2000 complaints
His speech and his comments were shocking to the point where the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in Ottawa has received more than 2,000 complaints since last Wednesday, a record. He previously belonged to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which had been the subject of 1,784 complaints in 1986 for sending a document in English only to its Quebec offices, according to Commissioner’s records.
Its employees will now have to work to determine whether they are admissible under the Official Languages Act. “It is therefore possible that the number of admissible complaints is lower than this number,” said the spokesperson for the Commissariat, Sonia Lamontagne. “As they continue to come in, it is difficult for us, at the moment, to give you a final number of admissible complaints,” she added.
Air Canada has a bad reputation for providing services in French. From 2016 to today, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages received 431 complaints about their quality, of which only 160 in 2019. This high number is a sign of “a systemic problem” within the air carrier, underlined Commissioner Raymond Théberge. in interview at Press last Thursday.
“This problem raises questions about the quality of governance exercised by the Board of Directors of Air Canada with regard to the place accorded to the French language within the management of the Company”, writes Mme Freeland in his letter.
The Deputy Prime Minister therefore suggests that Air Canada’s board of directors make changes at the top of the pyramid by adding “significant improvement” to Mr. Rousseau’s ability to communicate in French as an evaluation criterion. of its annual yield.
The air carrier should also make communication in French “an important criterion” to fill senior management positions. Mme Freeland also calls on it to review its policies and practices regarding the use of this language.
His colleague Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages, however, on Monday refrained from demanding the resignation of the CEO, like the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party. “I think that’s a question you need to ask the board,” she just answered.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole also avoided saying whether Michael Rousseau should step down. “I hope he will have a strong commitment to French,” he answered a journalist’s question.
In the National Assembly, Quebec solidaire and the Liberal Party of Quebec had also demanded the resignation of the boss of Air Canada.
Despite this linguistic storm, the action of Air Canada has no lead in the wing, quite the contrary. On Friday, it ended the week soaring 6.2%, while today it remained stable despite the intervention of Minister Freeland. The company did not respond to calls from Press Monday.
This controversy comes as the government of Justin Trudeau must resubmit its reform of the Official Languages Act which would give more teeth to the Commissioner responsible for enforcing it. The initial bill tabled in June died on the order paper when the election campaign began two months later.