Air Canada Chief Executive Faces Firestorm for Condolence Video About LaGuardia Crash Recorded Almost Entirely in English

The chief executive of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, is facing calls for him to resign from high-ranking officials in the Canadian government for issuing an almost all-English condolence video after a fatal crash at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Earlier this week, Mr. Rousseau — a native English speaker — released a four-minute-long video offering his condolences after an Air Canada jet crashed into a fire truck, killing both pilots, one of whom was from predominantly French-speaking Quebec. In the video, he only said two French words, “Bonjour” and “Merci,” which angered French speakers in Canada who have expressed frustration with the prevalence of English. By Wednesday, the Commissioner of Official Languages told Radio-Canada that it had received 561 complaints about Mr. Rousseau’s message. And the chief executive has been summoned to Ottawa to explain why he did not deliver his message in French. Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Wednesday that he is “very disappointed” with Mr. Rousseau.“As others are, rightly so — in this unilingual message of the CEO of Air Canada … [it shows] a lack of judgment, a lack of compassion,” Mr. Carney said. He also said he expects Air Canada’s board of directors to release a statement about Mr. Rousseau’s video. The premier of Quebec, Francois Legault, said Mr. Rousseau’s failure to speak French shows a “lack of respect,” and said he should resign.And Quebec’s justice minister, Simon Jolin-Barrette, also criticized Mr. Rousseau, noting that he has previously been rebuked for apparently not learning French.“It’s not the first time, it’s not the second time, it’s the minimum the third time. Game over,” he told reporters. A spokesman for the Bloc Quebecois, which advocates for French-speaking Quebecers, Julian Coulombe-Bonnafous, said in a post on X that Mr. Rousseau should learn French “very quickly” or he should “[go] off to do something else.”Canada’s Official Languages Act of 1969 made French and English the country’s official languages. However, only about 20 percent of Canadians are bilingual. There are around 8 million French speakers in Canada, which has a population of roughly 41 million. For years, French speakers have voiced anger at the dominance of English and argued that they face discrimination from businesses and other entities that do not provide services in French.Mr. Rousseau has previously faced criticism for not speaking in French. In 2021, he gave a 26-minute speech at the Palais des congrès, during which he spoke French for about 20 seconds. A reporter asked him how he had lived at Montreal for 14 years without learning French.“I’ve been able to live in Montreal without speaking French, and I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal,” he said.That response prompted backlash, with elected officials in Quebec and Ottawa calling it “insulting.”Mr. Rousseau later released an apology, saying he did not want to “disrespect” French speakers and said he is “committed to improving” his French.

Air Canada Chief Executive Faces Firestorm for Condolence Video About LaGuardia Crash Recorded Almost Entirely in English

Air Canada Chief Executive Faces Firestorm for Condolence Video About LaGuardia Crash Recorded Almost Entirely in English

More from the New York Sun

MoMA Animates the Case for Experimental ’Toons

The Fiat Yen

Trump and the GOP Actually Have a Strong Election Message as Long as They Make It

Iran’s Attack on Iraqi Kurdistan Could Signal Escalating War to Come

‘Meet’ Todd Blanche

OpenAI Alerts FBI After Florida Man Tells ChatGPT He Wants To Kill His Ex-Girlfriend

Trump Science Advisor Says Opening Fire on E.T. Not a Good Idea

Omnipresent White House Aide Natalie Harp, Whom Trump Picked To Secretly Board Decoy Plane With Him, Becomes Subject of Speculation

More from the New York Sun

MoMA Animates the Case for Experimental ’Toons

The Fiat Yen

Trump and the GOP Actually Have a Strong Election Message as Long as They Make It

Iran’s Attack on Iraqi Kurdistan Could Signal Escalating War to Come

‘Meet’ Todd Blanche

OpenAI Alerts FBI After Florida Man Tells ChatGPT He Wants To Kill His Ex-Girlfriend

Trump Science Advisor Says Opening Fire on E.T. Not a Good Idea

Omnipresent White House Aide Natalie Harp, Whom Trump Picked To Secretly Board Decoy Plane With Him, Becomes Subject of Speculation