Air Canada chief apologizes after English-only message to plane crash victims

## Summary
The president and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, and other officials host a press conference in the lead up to the summer Olympic Games in Paris France. Photograph: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The president and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, and other officials host a press conference in the lead up to the summer Olympic Games in Paris France. Photograph: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images Air Canada chief apologizes after English-only message to plane crash victims Michael Rousseau says his lack of French overshadowed families’ grief after Mark Carney and Quebec denounced his video Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox 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. I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve.” Mark Carney rebukes Air Canada chief over English-only crash message Read more Quebec’s premier, François Legault, called on the airline executive to resign on Wednesday.

## Article Content
The president and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, and other officials host a press conference in the lead up to the summer Olympic Games in Paris France.
Photograph: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images
View image in fullscreen
The president and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, and other officials host a press conference in the lead up to the summer Olympic Games in Paris France.
Photograph: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images
Air Canada chief apologizes after English-only message to plane crash victims
Michael Rousseau says his lack of French overshadowed families’ grief after Mark Carney and Quebec denounced his video
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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.
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.
“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.”
Mark Carney rebukes Air Canada chief over English-only crash message
Read more
Quebec’s premier, François Legault, called on the airline executive to resign on Wednesday. The Canadian prime minister,
Mark Carney
, said Rousseau showed a lack of compassion and judgment and said he looks forward to hearing more from Air Canada’s board of directors.
Antoine Forest, one of the two pilots killed in the crash at
LaGuardia airport
, was a French-speaking Quebecer. Forest and Mackenzie Gunther died when the Air Canada Jazz flight they were in landed at LaGuardia and collided with a fire truck on the runway.
Canada’s largest airline is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, where French is the primary language. Rousseau has been criticized for not speaking French previously. He delivered his condolence video message in English, with French subtitles.
Carney noted that Canada is a bilingual country with two official languages.
Quebec’s identity has been contentious since the 1760s when the British completed their takeover of what was then called New France. Quebec is about 80% French-speaking.
Legault noted that when Rousseau was appointed president of the airline in February 2021,
he promised to learn French.
The office of the commissioner of official anguages has received hundreds of complaints about Rousseau’s video.
“Back in November 2021, less than a year after he was appointed CEO of Air Canada, one of his first major speeches in his role triggered a strong controversy among Francophones, as the speech was almost exclusively in English,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
“At the time, in response to that controversy, Rousseau apologized and pledged to learn French. He did later take French lessons but, as the new controversy suggests, it was probably not very successful to say the least.”
Jason Kenney, a former conservative cabinet minister, said he would rather the CEO of Canada’s flagship carrier focus his scarce time on safety and reliability than language training.
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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- The office of the commissioner of official anguages has received hundreds of complaints about Rousseau’s video. “Back in November 2021, less than a year after he was appointed CEO of Air Canada, one of his first major speeches in his role triggered a strong controversy among Francophones, as the speech was almost exclusively in English,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. “At the time, in response to that controversy, Rousseau apologized and pledged to learn French.

### Areas for Consideration
- The office of the commissioner of official anguages has received hundreds of complaints about Rousseau’s video. “Back in November 2021, less than a year after he was appointed CEO of Air Canada, one of his first major speeches in his role triggered a strong controversy among Francophones, as the speech was almost exclusively in English,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. “At the time, in response to that controversy, Rousseau apologized and pledged to learn French.
- He did later take French lessons but, as the new controversy suggests, it was probably not very successful to say the least.” Jason Kenney, a former conservative cabinet minister, said he would rather the CEO of Canada’s flagship carrier focus his scarce time on safety and reliability than language training.

### Implications
- The president and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, and other officials host a press conference in the lead up to the summer Olympic Games in Paris France.
- Photograph: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The president and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, and other officials host a press conference in the lead up to the summer Olympic Games in Paris France.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers canada, french, air topics. Notable strengths include discussion of canada. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 593.