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Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau will retire sometime in the fall after nearly two decades with the airline, it said on Monday, a week after he made headlines by issuing an English-only message of condolence following the crash of Flight 8646 in New York.
The plane departed from Montreal and collided with a fire truck upon landing at LaGuardia airport on March 22, killing two pilots — first officer Mackenzie Gunther and Capt. Antoine Forest — and injuring dozens of others.
Rousseau expressed condolences for the victims’ families in a video the next day. But he was quickly condemned for delivering the subtitled message almost entirely in English (aside from beginning with “bonjour” and ending with “merci”).
One of the pilots, Forest, was a francophone from Coteau-du-Lac, Que. Air Canada itself is headquartered in Montreal and the company’s own policy requires employees to be able to communicate in both of Canada’s official languages.
The response was swift. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Rousseau’s message showed “a lack of judgment” and of “compassion,” while Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said it showed a “sad and gross lack of respect” for Forest’s family. Quebec Premier François Legault called for Rousseau’s resignation.
Meanwhile, former Alberta premier Jason Kenney was among those who defended Rousseau, saying the executive’s time would be better spent on safety and reliability of services rather than language training.
Rousseau released a statement on Thursday, saying that despite many years of lessons, he is still unable to “adequately” express himself in French — an apology that many said missed the mark.
By the end of the week, Rousseau had been summoned to Ottawa for an appearance in front of the Official Languages Committee; Quebec’s National Assembly introduced a motion calling for his resignation; and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages had received nearly 2,200 complaints about his remarks.
CBC News has reached out to Air Canada for a statement.
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