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Lawmakers call for Air Canada chief to resign after English-only message to plane crash victims (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 15 hours ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/politics@beehaw.org

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Yeah, that's not a great look in a dual-language country, especially when you headquarters is in Quebec.

The chief executive of Air Canada has apologized for his inability to express himself in French after politicians called for his resignation for his English-only message of condolence after Sunday’s deadly crash in New York.

But lawmakers in Canada’s lone Francophone province rejected the mea culpa as “too little too late” and overwhelmingly passed a motion calling for the head of Canada’s flagship carrier to step down.

Air Canada’s CEO, Michael Rousseau, has been criticized for the four-minute condolence video posted online that included only two French words – “bonjour” and “merci”.

“I am deeply saddened that my inability to speak French has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees, who have demonstrated outstanding professionalism despite the events of the past few days,” Rousseau said in a statement on Thursday.

“Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French. I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve.”

But soon after, Quebec’s legislature passed a vote calling on Rousseau to resign. The motion, brought forward by the province’s minister of French language, cited the executive’s “lack of respect for the French language, Quebec families in mourning, and all Francophones across the province”.

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[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 2 points 12 hours ago

No, it was about one of the dead pilots being a French speaker and a tone-deaf response. I've lived in Canada, and this knee-jerk "Quebec is at it again" reaction to equal treatment feels unjustified. "Let them speak French," essentially, while the rest of us don't. The flight originated in Montreal, which already tells you English is the wrong language to apologise in.