(Glasgow, United Kingdom) François Legault is “angry” with Air Canada boss Michael Rousseau. He finds it “insulting” that the CEO of the airline does not speak French and that he says he does not intend to learn it. “It is unspeakable and it shocks me”, thunders the Prime Minister, who calls on the board of directors of the company so that it acts.
Between two meetings at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Mr. Legault commented on the linguistic storm that inflamed Quebec and Ottawa on Wednesday. After a speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM), Mr. Rousseau said that “if you looked at my schedule, you would understand that this is what I need to focus on”. He justified the fact that he does not speak French and that he does not have the time to learn it, even if he has lived in the Quebec metropolis for 14 years.
“Until today, it was not an issue. There are people who want to make it an issue, it is their business. I am not an anti-francophone. My wife is French-speaking, my mother is French-speaking, I live in Saint-Lambert in a predominantly French-speaking environment. I just didn’t have time to learn it, ”Mr. Rousseau later said in an interview with the columnist of Press Jean-Philippe Décarie.
Legault fulminates
François Legault criticizes the attitude of the boss of Air Canada, which he finds insulting to the employees of the air carrier whose head office is in Montreal. “I put myself in the shoes of Air Canada employees and I would not be proud of my president,” he said.
“I expect an apology from Mr. Rousseau and that he will start learning French. I think we have to call on Air Canada’s board of directors, ”demanded the Prime Minister.
For François Legault, this new linguistic incident in Montreal is proof that we must reaffirm that the official language of Quebec is French, as the government is trying to do with its Bill 96 modernizing Bill 101.
But will this bill be useful in preventing such a situation in the future? As an airline, Air Canada is subject to the Official Languages Act federal law (which Ottawa planned to reform before the election), and not to the Charter of the French language. Mr. Legault believes at the very least that his bill sends a strong signal.
On Wednesday, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Michel Leblanc, for his part said “very surprised” to see that Mr. Rousseau’s speech included very little French.
“It is clear that for us, a president who would move to Madrid, who does not know Spanish, should commit to recognizing that it is the right thing to do to learn it. It’s the same in Quebec, ”he said.