Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau has apologized and committed to improving his French amid heavy backlash by federal and Quebec officials who called his recent comments about not needing to speak French despite having lived in Montreal for 14 years shocking and disrespectful.
“I want to clarify that I did not want in any way to disrespect [Quebecers] and francophones across the country. I apologize to those who were offended by my words,” Rousseau said in a statement Thursday, following fiery criticism from officials hours earlier.
He noted that he told journalists he would, in fact, like to be able to speak French.
“Today, I am committed to improving my French, the official language of Canada and the language used in Quebec,” he said.
“The head office of this emblematic company is located in Montreal and it is a source of pride for me as for my entire management team. I reiterate Air Canada’s commitment to show respect for French and, as a leader, I will set the tone.”
On Wednesday, the CEO delivered a 26-minute speech at the Palais des congrès in Montreal, during which he spoke French for only about 20 seconds. After the speech, Rousseau was asked in French by a journalist for Quebec TV news channel LCN how he’s managed to live in Montreal for so long despite speaking little French.
He was unable to answer the question and asked that it be posed in English. When pressed, he said despite living in Quebec for 14 years, he’s too busy running a company to learn French.
“I’ve been able to live in Montreal without speaking French, and I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal,” Rousseau said.
WATCH | Air Canada CEO struggles to answer questions in French:
Air Canada CEO struggles to answer questions in French in Montreal
7 hours ago
Michael Rousseau was asked in French by a journalist for Quebec TV news channel LCN how he’s managed to live in Montreal for so long despite speaking little French. 1:38
‘It’s insulting,’ premier says
Several elected officials in Quebec and Ottawa, including Canada’s minister of official languages, have criticized Rousseau’s initial comments.
On Thursday, Premier François Legault became the latest public figure to denounce Rousseau’s attitude about the French language.
“It’s insulting. It makes me angry, because [of] his attitude to say ‘I have been in Quebec 14 years and I did not have to learn French,’ ” said Legault on the sidelines of the COP26 environmental summit in Scotland.
Quebec’s minister for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, had said Rousseau showed “contempt for our language and our culture in Quebec.”
He doubled down on that Thursday, saying Rousseau had demonstrated that he is “not worthy of his duties.”
Simon Jolin-Barrette, Quebec’s minister for the French Language, said Thursday that Rousseau’s attitude toward French was unacceptable and showed a lack of respect for Quebec and Quebecers. (Dany Pilote/Radio-Canada)
A spokesperson for the Office of the Official Languages Commissioner of Canada said Thursday it has so far received 60 complaints related to Rousseau’s almost exclusively English speech.
“In the past five years, we have received an average of more than 80 complaints per year against Air Canada in relation to the official languages as a whole,” the spokesperson, Jadrino Huot, said in an email to Radio-Canada.
‘He needs to learn French’
Jolin-Barrette later said he welcomed Rousseau’s clarification, but took issue with some of the wording used in the statement and said the apology is not enough.
“He says the ‘[the language used] in Quebec is French’ — it’s not only the language used, the official language of Quebec is French,” the minister said.
“It’s not enough to make some apologies to Quebecers; he needs to learn French.”
Jolin-Barrette is the minister responsible for Bill 96, Quebec’s bill to overhaul its law to protect the French language in the province.
The bill has raised controversy among minority rights groups, who say if it becomes law, it could undermine the independence of the judiciary by requiring judges to be bilingual, and that it could exclude job candidates and harm small businesses.
Jolin-Barrette said he believes the bill could prevent situations like Rousseau’s speech by extending its provisions to include companies under federal jurisdiction, such as Air Canada.
Jolin-Barrette had describe the reform as a reasonable response to studies by Quebec’s French-language office that indicate French is on the decline in the province, particularly in Montreal.
All three opposition parties in Quebec have also condemned Rousseau’s remarks, with the Liberals and Québec Solidaire calling for his resignation.
“What we are asking today […] is that Mr. Rousseau apologize for his remarks toward francophones and Quebecers, that he resign from his post and that companies under federal jurisdiction be subject to the French language,” said André Fortin, of the Liberal Party of Quebec.
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
