Good morning. The chief executive of the country\u2019s largest airliner is facing heavy criticism after posting an English-only message of condolences after this week\u2019s fatal collision between an Air Canada plane and a firetruck at a New York airport.<\/p>\n
Up firstIn the news<\/p>\n
Telecoms: Edward Rogers has triggered a clash<\/a> over the will and estate of the matriarch of the billionaire Rogers family.<\/p>\n Takeovers: Brookfield and Caisse to acquire renewable power producer Boralex<\/a> for $3.8-billion.<\/p>\n Investing: What\u2019s in store for Canada as financial firms bet on prediction markets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Rousseau giving a speech \u2013 famously, in English \u2013 at the Montreal Chamber of Commerce in 2021.Mario Beauregard\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n In focusAir Canada\u2019s CEO faces a familiar encore<\/p>\n Plus \u00e7a change. <\/p>\n Four years after drawing headlines for his admission that he had not learned French, despite living in Montreal for more than a decade, despite being the chief executive officer of a Montreal-based airliner, despite the company\u2019s status as a federally regulated company operating under sweeping French-language rules, Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau is drawing attention for his English-only message of condolence after a fatal collision between a plane and a firetruck at New York\u2019s LaGuardia Airport.<\/p>\n In a four-minute video<\/a> posted about 13 hours after the crash, Rousseau said he wanted to express, \u201cfirst, and most importantly, our deepest sorrow for everyone affected.<\/p>\n \u201cOur efforts are focused on the needs of our passengers and crew members, along with their families and loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Antoine Forest, the pilot in command of the Air Canada Express flight when it collided with a fire truck<\/a>, was a francophone from Coteau-du-Lac, Que.<\/p>\n It\u2019s perhaps no wonder, given his family\u2019s background and the significance of language to the province\u2019s identity, that media and political leaders across Quebec \u2013 then across Parliament Hill in Ottawa \u2013 were so quick with their criticisms.<\/p>\n The public nature of the response from Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said yesterday that he was \u201cdisappointed by the video message\u201d<\/a> and that it \u201clacks judgment and compassion,\u201d might seem blunt to some, but it\u2019s an instinct built on years of fraught relations between Ottawa and the province.<\/p>\n In the decades after the 1995 referendum, in which Quebeckers voted by the slimmest of margins against sovereignty, the federal government has made efforts to recognize the province as a distinct society, but through symbolic gestures that don\u2019t allow for the reopening of the Constitution.<\/p>\n That symbolic recognition clearly has its limits, and has been met more recently by an increasingly assertive self\u2011definition by Quebec<\/a>.<\/p>\n Regardless of Ottawa\u2019s history with the province, those in leadership positions have long acknowledged that knowing at least a little of the country\u2019s two official languages helps. And another simple truth: teleprompters exist. In January, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivered a small section<\/a> of her speech to a Conservative Party convention in French, earning applause from the audience when it was clear her attempt had mercifully come to an end. In his time running in federal election campaigns, Reform Party founder Preston Manning gave French his level best \u2013 even if one comedian joked that they \u201cpreferred it in the original German.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, with the exception of a \u201cbonjour\u201d and a \u201cmerci,\u201d the decision was made to record the video entirely in English, because Rousseau\u2019s \u201cability to express himself in French does not allow him to convey such a sensitive message in that language as he would wish,\u201d an Air Canada spokesperson told The Globe, noting the video had subtitles.<\/p>\n My time in public relations was relatively short-lived \u2013 and it\u2019s always easier to solve problems in retrospect \u2013 but across my four-odd years, I might have recommended, so many hours after the crash, so many years after a promise to learn the language, knowing a francophone community had just lost a loved one, a more considered focus on the pilots and their families. <\/p>\n I might have suggested he express at least some of his sympathies in French. But it\u2019s hard to explain why that would need suggesting in the first place.<\/p>\n ChartedThe business of blood<\/p>\n Canadian Blood Services is known as the operator of Canada\u2019s blood collection and distribution system outside of Quebec. The government-funded charity runs a network of donation sites where donors roll up their sleeves, and it provides the logistics to get life-saving blood transfusions to hospitals across the country.<\/p>\n But its financial statements reveal that it spends most of its money on a service most Canadians aren\u2019t familiar with: buying and dispensing Canada\u2019s supply of pharmaceutical products derived from human plasma<\/a>.<\/p>\n Quoted<\/p>\n I can say this as a fricking American, I\u2019m jealous of what the Canadian mentality is, the kindness that you showed each other, the belief you have in what this country represents.<\/p>\n \u2014 Canadian men’s soccer coach Jesse Marsch<\/p>\n How the coach of the Canadian men\u2019s soccer team saw pop-culture possibilities in hosting the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n Up nextMore files we\u2019re following<\/p>\n Across Canada: Market watchers are paying more attention to Statistics Canada\u2019s monthly Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, which has been showing signs of a softening labour market. Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers speaks in Brandon, Manitoba. G7 foreign ministers are meeting in Paris over the Middle East war.<\/p>\n At the bell: Notable earnings include BRP Inc., maker of -Doos both Ski and Sea.<\/p>\n Morning update<\/p>\n Global markets slid<\/a> amid dimming hopes for \u2060a \u200bquick end to the Middle East conflict as the U.S. and Iran issued conflicting statements<\/a> about ceasefire talks.<\/p>\n Wall Street futures were in the red after major North American markets closed higher yesterday. TSX futures followed sentiment lower.<\/p>\n Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.22 per cent in morning trading. Britain\u2019s FTSE 100 declined 1 per cent, Germany\u2019s DAX dropped 1.5 per cent and France\u2019s CAC 40 fell 0.96 per cent.<\/p>\n In Asia, Japan\u2019s Nikkei closed 0.27 per cent lower, while Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng fell 1.89 per cent. <\/p>\n The Canadian dollar traded at 72.31 U.S. cents. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning. 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