TORONTO (AP) — Air Canada’s chief executive issued a public apology Thursday for delivering condolences entirely in English following Sunday’s fatal aircraft accident at LaGuardia Airport, as political leaders demanded his resignation over the language controversy.
Michael Rousseau, who heads the Canadian airline, faced harsh criticism after posting a four-minute online condolence message that contained just two French phrases — “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 stated.
“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.”
Quebec’s top official demanded the airline leader step down Wednesday. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticized the response as lacking compassion and proper judgment, saying he anticipated further action from Air Canada’s governing board.
The fatal accident claimed the lives of pilots Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther when their Air Canada Jazz aircraft struck a fire vehicle during landing Sunday night. Forest was a French-speaking resident of Quebec.
The nation’s biggest airline operates from its Montreal headquarters in Quebec, where French serves as the dominant language. Rousseau has faced previous criticism for his English-only communications. His condolence message was delivered in English with French translations displayed on screen.
Carney emphasized that Canada maintains two official languages as a bilingual nation.
The language debate in Quebec dates back to the 1760s British conquest of New France. Today, approximately 80 percent of Quebec residents speak French.
Quebec Premier François Legault pointed out that Rousseau committed to learning French when he took the airline’s top position in February 2021.
The federal language commissioner’s office has logged hundreds of complaints regarding Rousseau’s video message.
“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.
