Prime Minister Criticizes Air Canada CEO for Language Choices

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his disappointment with Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau, who conveyed his condolences in English instead of French, which is Canada’s second official language, following a deadly incident.

Carney addressed reporters, highlighting Rousseau’s poor judgment and expressed his expectation that the airline’s board would release a statement regarding the matter.

The unfortunate event occurred on Sunday night when an Air Canada aircraft collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York, resulting in the deaths of two pilots.

Despite Air Canada being officially bilingual, Rousseau, who is a native English speaker, shared a four-minute video that included merely two words in French. In response, Parliament’s language committee voted to summon him to discuss the issue in Ottawa.

“Like many others, I am quite disappointed with this singularly English message from the CEO. It demonstrates a lack of judgment and compassion,” Carney stated.

He added, “We will be paying close attention to his comments to the committee and any anticipated statements from the board in the near future.”

Air Canada did not respond to requests for comment.

The language question remains a delicate topic in Canada, particularly in Quebec, where French is predominantly spoken.

Frustration over the predominance of English contributed to the rise of the separatist Parti Québécois during the 1970s. This party is currently leading in opinion polls ahead of provincial elections set for this year.

Should independence be achieved, there is a commitment to conduct another referendum, as previous votes were held in 1980 and 1995.

This isn’t the first instance of Rousseau encountering controversy regarding language matters. In 2021, the Canadian government indicated that he needed to improve his French during his annual board review, and he promised to make further improvements.

In 2021, Ottawa acquired a 6% ownership stake in Air Canada as part of a financial aid package during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it sold that stake last December.