Carney ‘very disappointed’ in Air Canada CEO for English-only condolence video

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Prime Minister Mark Carney is criticizing Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau for his English-only message of condolences to the families of the pilots who died in a plane crash on Sunday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

“We live in a bilingual country, and companies like Air Canada particularly have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages regardless of the situation,” Carney said while speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill on Wednesday.

“I’m very disappointed, as others are, rightly so in this unilingual message of the CEO of Air Canada,” Carney also said. “It doesn’t matter, particularly in these circumstances, lack of judgment, a lack of compassion.”

On Tuesday, the Committee on Official Languages summoned Rousseau, following dozens of complaints about his message. He has until May 1 to appear before MPs to “explain himself.”

In the four-minute message posted on Monday, which included French subtitles, Rousseau said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and called it a “dark day” for the company.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages had received 795 complaints about the video.

The two pilots killed in the collision are Antoine Forest from Coteau-du-Lac, Que., and Mackenzie Gunther, a 2023 alumnus of Toronto’s Seneca Polytechnic.

2021 backlash

In a statement emailed to CTV News, Air Canada spokesperson Christophe Hennebelle said Rousseau wanted to address “everyone affected by the tragedy, whether directly or indirectly,” himself.

“He therefore recorded a message as a matter of priority before departing on a flight for the crash site,” Hennebelle wrote. “Despite his efforts, his ability to express himself in French does not allow him to convey such a sensitive message in that language as he would wish.”

Hennebelle added that the video included French subtitles, and that all available information was communicated in both official languages on the Air Canada website.

It’s not the first time Rousseau, however, has faced criticism for declining to speak French.

In 2021, he faced backlash and a protest outside his office for not speaking French during a speech to the Montreal Chamber of Commerce.

He later told reporters he’s “been able to live in Montreal without speaking French,” which sparked significant criticism. He apologized for the comments, and pledged to work on his French.

Quebec’s Bill 96, meanwhile, strengthened the laws around French in the province, where the Air Canada headquarters are located, making it the mandatory language of work, business, commerce, and public administration.

MPs also criticize video

Carney, meanwhile, is not the only politician to criticize Rousseau for the English-only video. The Quebec government is calling for the CEO’s resignation, according to The Canadian Press.

Several Liberal cabinet ministers, including Industry Minister Melanie Joly, Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller, and Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon — all of whom represent Quebec ridings — also said it showed a lack of empathy and understanding.

Joly, when asked, would not say either way whether she believes Rousseau should step down.

When pressed by reporters, both Joly and MacKinnon also defended the prime minister’s own weakness fully expressing himself in French, saying they both communicate with Carney and his office in French without issue.

Conservative MPs, including Joël Godin, who represents a riding near Quebec City, also took aim at Rousseau.

Godin said Rousseau showed he has zero respect for francophones by putting out the video exclusively in English, especially after he’d committed to learning the language years ago.

He added it goes beyond the laws in Quebec aimed at protecting French, and rather in this case is about “principles, values, and intention.”

Quebec Conservative MP Eric Lefebvre told reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday that one of the pilots and many of the flight’s passengers were from Quebec, and expressing his condolences in French is “the least” Rousseau could do.

With files from CTV News’ Maya Johnson