Source : the age
The board of directors of Canada’s largest flight, which is based in French-speaking Quebec, learned on Monday that Rousseau had told him he would leave by the second quarter.
Prime Minister Mark Carney claimed that the official linguistic message from Canada showed a lack of sympathy and judgment, even though the country is actually bilingual.
” We happily reside in a bilingual society, and businesses like Air Canada especially have a responsibility to communicate in both official language, regardless of the circumstance,” Carney told investigators.
Montreal serves as the airport’s principal hub for Canada. Rousseau, 68, had formerly been criticized for not speaking French.
With European captions, he delivered his sympathy digital communication in English with “bonjour” at the beginning and “merci” at the end.
The National Assembly’s 92 to 0 vote in favor of a movement requesting Rousseau’s departure sparked a uproar in Quebec.
Additionally, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Language received lots of concerns about it.
In a statement released last week, Rousseau said,” I am deeply saddened that my inability to speak French has diverted attention from the profound anguish of the people and the outstanding resilience of Air Canada’s people, who have consistently displayed exceptional professionalism in spite of the events of the past couple days.”
” However, I am still unable to express myself sufficiently in French despite several lessons over a number of years. I apologize in full for this, but I’m making an effort to get better.
According to the most recent regulatory filing, Rousseau received$ 13.1 million ($ 13.74 million ) last year.
Air Canada stated that the committee has been conducting inheritance arranging for more than two years and that it launched an international search in January.
The airline stated that the panel will take into account a number of performance standards when evaluating candidates, including the ability to speak in French.
In a social media post, Canada’s transportation secretary, Steven MacKinnon, thanked Rousseau and stated that the government would continue to work with Air Canada to ensure that it “provides secure, trusted, affordable, and linguistic support to all Canadians.”
François Legault, the premier of Quebec, noted that Rousseau promised to study French when he was appointed chairman of the aircraft in February 2021.
Rousseau delivered a speech to Montreal business leaders about totally in English in 2021, soon after being appointed CEO. He later expressed some pride in having lived in Montreal for more than ten years without speaking French, which sparked anger in Quebec. He also apologised for that occasion.
Since the 1760s, when the British finished their occupation of what was then known as New France, Quebec’s identification has been in dispute. Quebec has about 80 % of its speakers speaking French.
Bloomberg and AP
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