Installed in Quebec since 2007, the current boss of Air Canada Michael Rousseau was able to live there peacefully even if he speaks only English and says he does not intend to learn the language of Molière because of his job. busy weather, triggering a linguistic storm in Quebec City as well as in Ottawa.
The priority of the main interested party is rather to bring “Air Canada where it was” before the airline is severely shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, he pleaded, Wednesday, on the sidelines of a speech in front of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) – also surprised by the comments of its guest.
“If you looked at my schedule, […] you would understand that this is what I have to concentrate on, ”affirmed Mr. Rousseau, in office since last February, during a press scrum of a few minutes.
Montreal is home to the head office of the largest airline in the country, subject to the Official Languages Act.
The words of the President and CEO of Air Canada, which come as the Legault government wants to give more bite to Bill 101, were quick to react in the political sphere.
In a tweet on Twitter, the Minister of Justice and Minister responsible for the French language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, attacked the guest of the CCMM.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, ARCHIVES THE CANADIAN PRESS
Simon Jolin-Barrette, Minister of Justice and Minister responsible for the French Language
The big boss of Air Canada expresses everything that we rejected decades ago: contempt for our language and our culture at home in Quebec, he wrote. These words are unworthy of the functions he occupies.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, Minister of Justice and Minister responsible for the French Language
In the evening, the Minister of Official Languages, Ginette Petitspas Taylor invited Mr. Rousseau to “make the effort” to learn “the magnificent language that is French”, but his colleague at Canadian Heritage and Lieutenant of Quebec Pablo Rodriguez is went further.
“Insult to injury,” he wrote, on the social network. Air Canada owes Quebeckers and Francophones across the country an explanation. It is a lack of respect for our language. Unacceptable! ”
No problem
Mr. Rousseau was Chief Financial Officer of the company since 2007 before succeeding Calin Rovinescu at the helm of the company last February.
The spouse of the new boss of Air Canada is French-speaking. By emphasizing that his family had “French-speaking origins”, the latter admitted that he had been able to live in the Montreal region for more than a decade without having to communicate in French.
“It is to the honor of the city”, analyzed Mr. Rousseau, at a time when the Legault government wants to give more bite to law 101
The businessman’s statements were quickly criticized.
“I find these words appalling and disrespectful,” said the leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec Dominique Anglade at the end of the line. Air Canada frankly does not understand the impact of its decisions. ”
She invited the Trudeau government to get involved in the matter.
Really sorry to see so little consideration for francophones. The decline of French is very real. We must lead by example and act.
Alain Rayes, Conservative Party of Canada spokesperson for official languages
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, for his part underlined, on Twitter, that Quebec, “whose only common and official language is French, […] pays more than 20% of federal subsidies and assistance to Air Canada ”, in reference to the support given to the carrier.
At the Parti Québécois, leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon felt that French represented an “optional peccadille” for Mr. Rousseau.
Here and there
With the exception of a curtain-raising sentence and at the end of his speech, Mr. Rousseau spoke almost exclusively in English, for about 25 minutes, to the gathering of business people.
The president and CEO of the CCMM, Michel Leblanc, did not hide his astonishment at the lack of commitment from the boss of Air Canada to French.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Michel leblanc
I was surprised to see that the 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 is the same in Quebec.
Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the CCMM
Air Canada has been harmed more than once by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for its breaches of language obligations. The complaints often concerned the failure of service in French, one of the two official languages in Canada.
The company was even the subject of a special report in 2016.
On this point, Mr. Rousseau said that Air Canada annually spent “tens and tens of millions of dollars” to ensure that its staff master both official languages.
“I think we’re doing, frankly, a good job,” he said.
This was Mr. Rousseau’s first speech to the CCMM since his promotion. He essentially testified to the progress made by the company since the initial shock of the health crisis, which had notably led to the dismissal of more than 20,000 of its employees.