{"id":560204,"date":"2026-03-25T17:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/560204\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T17:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:47:08","slug":"carney-disappointed-in-air-canada-ceos-english-only-condolence-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/560204\/","title":{"rendered":"Carney \u2018disappointed\u2019 in Air Canada CEO\u2019s English-only condolence video"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Officials on Wednesday inspect the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet at LaGuardia Airport in New York, where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night.Yuki Iwamura\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau is under heavy criticism once again from the country\u2019s top political leaders over his ability and level of willingness to speak French, after he offered a video message of condolence solely in English to the families of the two pilots who died in a plane crash at New York\u2019s LaGuardia Airport Sunday night. <\/p>\n

Antoine Forest, the pilot in command of the Air Canada Express flight when it collided with a fire truck on the runway during landing, was a francophone from Coteau-du-lac, Que. His co-pilot was Mackenzie Gunther from Ontario. <\/p>\n

On his way into the House of Commons Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney took issue with the way Air Canada and its CEO handled the message of condolence. He said that Canada is a bilingual country and that Air Canada has a responsibility to communicate in both official languages, regardless of the situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so disappointed by the video message by Air Canada\u2019s CEO,\u201d Mr. Carney said. \u201cIt lacks judgement and compassion.\u201d <\/p>\n

Parliament\u2019s official languages committee summoned Mr. Rousseau on Tuesday to explain himself over his decision to say only two words in French in a four-minute video expressing condolence for the death of the pilots. Those words were \u201cbonjour\u201d and \u201cmerci.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr. Carney said he would follow Mr. Rousseau\u2019s appearance at the committee closely \u201cas well as comments which I expect in due course\u201d from Air Canada\u2019s board of directors. <\/p>\n

Federal Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly said the CEO\u2019s video showed \u201ca lack of empathy and a lack of sensitivity,\u201d given that some of the victims and their families are French-speaking. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a question of moral leadership,\u201d she said, adding the CEO now needs to show he understands the message. <\/p>\n

Political leaders in Quebec City called for an outright change in Air Canada leadership. <\/p>\n

Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault said Mr. Rousseau should step down, accusing him of a lack of respect after he pledged to learn French years ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf he will not speak French today, it\u2019s a lack of respect towards his employees and towards his clients,\u201d Mr. Legault said. \u201cI think if he does not speak French, he should resign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said Air Canada should force Mr. Rousseau to step down, calling him a \u201crepeat offender\u201d for failing to respect Quebec\u2019s official language. \u201cThis is contemptuous,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

Air Canada spokesperson Christophe Hennebelle said Mr. Rousseau recorded the video on Monday before departing for the crash site in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite his efforts, his ability to express himself in French does not allow him to convey such a sensitive message in that language as he would wish,\u201d Mr. Hennebelle said. \u201cWe have therefore used subtitles to ensure that everyone can receive his message directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said all information about the crash has been provided in both official languages on the internet, social media and news releases. \u201cHis primary aim was to speak in person,\u201d Mr. Hennebelle said.<\/p>\n

Air Canada CEO pledges to learn French amid backlash in Quebec over language comments<\/a><\/p>\n

This is at least the second time Mr. Rousseau\u2019s French skills have come under scrutiny. <\/p>\n

Not long after he became CEO in 2021, Mr. Rousseau made a speech<\/a> to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal that was mostly in English. Questioned by reporters after the speech, the CEO said he had managed to live in Montreal for 14 years without speaking French, and suggested he was too busy to learn the language.<\/p>\n

He later said he was beginning<\/a> to take French lessons.<\/p>\n

His comments shocked politicians in Quebec City and Ottawa alike, and triggered more than 2,500 complaints to the office of Canada\u2019s Commissioner of Official Languages. Justin Trudeau, who was prime minister at the time, called the situation \u201cunacceptable.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the ensuing storm, Ian Edwards, CEO of engineering firm AtkinsR\u00e9alis, called off a largely English-language speech he was set to give just days later. <\/p>\n

Attention also turned to other Quebec-based companies with perceived linguistic shortcomings, including Canadian National Railway Co., whose board lacked any French speakers for a time.<\/p>\n

More than half of Air Canada\u2019s 12 directors have \u201cvarying levels\u201d of proficiency in French, according to company documents, while two are fluent. <\/p>\n

\u201cSix of the seven members of our Executive Committee are bilingual, and Mr. Rousseau has continued to act on his personal pledge to learn French,\u201d according to Air Canada documents. <\/p>\n

In comments before the federal standing committee on transport, infrastructure and communities in December, 2024, Mr. Rousseau said he continued to take French courses but that at his age, learning the language was \u201cdifficult.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI am serious about learning French. It\u2019s certainly taking me longer than I thought, but I\u2019m continuing down that road,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Conservative MP Jo\u00ebl Godin said that more than a year later, it\u2019s clear little has changed in the way the CEO views his language responsibilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a question of principle, of values, and of intention,\u201d Mr. Godin said, adding the CEO has once again shown his \u201clack of sensitivity.\u201d <\/p>\n

The controversy is making headlines across Quebec, with prominent columnists and pundits also voicing their outrage. In La Presse, well-known columnist Patrick Lagac\u00e9 called the unilingual message \u201ctone deaf\u201d and said Mr. Rousseau \u201cdoesn\u2019t want to learn French.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is using the outrage to argue in favour of Quebec\u2019s independence. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal Liberal Party will do nothing; in fact, it is actively working to marginalize French,\u201d he said Wednesday on social media.<\/p>\n

With files from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Officials on Wednesday inspect the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48,714],"class_list":["post-560204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}