Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has voiced strong criticism against Air Canada’s CEO, Michael Rousseau, for delivering a speech solely in English to express condolences following a tragic crash in New York. Rousseau’s failure to include a message in Quebecois French, especially in a nation that prides itself on its bilingual identity, has sparked significant controversy.

The issue escalated when the Canadian parliament summoned Rousseau to appear before their official languages committee. Carney highlighted the importance of bilingual communication, particularly for a prominent national entity like Air Canada. “In a country with two official languages, Air Canada has a unique obligation to address its audience in both English and French, regardless of the circumstances,” Carney stated.

Expressing his disappointment, Carney remarked, “The CEO’s message was not only lacking in compassion but also failed to uphold the linguistic standards expected of Air Canada. We intend to scrutinize the comments made by Rousseau at the official languages committee, as well as any statements from the airline’s board.”

Rousseau’s condolence video, lasting four minutes, was criticized for incorporating only two French words, “bonjour” and “merci.” This oversight was particularly poignant given the loss of Antoine Forest, one of the pilots in the crash, who was a native French-speaking Quebecer.

Rousseau shared a four-minute condolence video online that only included two French words – ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci.’

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 landing at LaGuardia collided with a fire truck on the runway Sunday evening.

Canada’s largest airline is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, where French is the primary language. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney slammed the CEO of Air Canada for giving a speech offering condolences to the victims of the deadly crash in New York in English only

Carney joined in the criticism for Michael Rousseau after the nation’s parliament summoned him to testify at their official languages committee for not also offering his sympathies in Quebecois French

Rousseau has been criticized for not speaking French previously. He delivered his condolence video message in English, with French subtitles.

Quebec’s identity has been contentious since the 1760s when the British completed their takeover of what was then called New France. 

The province is about 80 percent French-speaking.

Quebec Premier François Legault noted that when Rousseau was appointed president of the airline in February 2021, he promised to learn French.

‘If he still doesn’t speak French today, it’s disrespectful to his employees and to his francophone customers, so yes, I think that if he doesn’t speak French, he should resign,’ Legault said.

Rousseau had said his understanding of the French language was ‘fair,’ but that he had made it by in Quebec for 14 years without needing to know the language. 

‘I’ve been able to live in Montreal without speaking French, and I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal,’ he said, per CBC. 

After the Air Canada leader faced mountains of backlash from the statements, he apologized and said he would be taking lessons in French. 

Antoine Forest (pictured), one of the two pilots killed in the crash at LaGuardia Airport, was a French-speaking Quebecer 

‘I admit that I made a mistake by not learning to speak French when I joined Air Canada and I am correcting that mistake at this point,’ he told the committee in 2022, around a year since he took on the leadership role within the airline. 

Federal Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said the Air Canada board should force him out.

‘He should leave. He should acknowledge the fact that he doesn´t have the requisite respect for Quebec society,’ he said. ‘There is a limit to the number of insults that one is supposed to stand.’

In a statement to CBC, a spokesperson for the airline said that Rousseau’s decision to deliver the message in English was because he was not proficient enough in the French language.

‘Mr Rousseau felt it was important to personally address our customers, our employees and those of Jazz, their families and all those affected in any way. He therefore recorded a message before leaving for the crash site,’ the statement said. 

‘Despite his efforts, his ability to speak French does not allow him to convey such a sensitive message as effectively as he would have liked in that language. We have therefore used subtitles to ensure everyone can receive his message directly.’

The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages has received hundreds of complaints about Rousseau’s video.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said many of the victims and their families are francophones and said Rousseau´s video lacked empathy. ‘It is a question of moral leadership,’ Joly said.

Aircraft maintenance workers inspect the wreckage of the Air Canada Express jet

The Port Authority fire truck is seen completely wrecked near the runway after colliding with an Air Canada Express CRJ-900 at LaGuardia Airport in New York

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.

French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge said in the Quebec National Assembly: ‘After all these years in Quebec and Montreal, I think this shows contempt on Mr Rousseau’s part. It is unacceptable.’ 

Carney said Canadian officials continue to work in close collaboration with their American counterparts to determine how this crash happened.

During the near four-minute statement posted on X, with French subtitles, Rousseau described the incident as ‘a very somber day’ for the airline. 

‘I want to express our deepest sorrow for everyone affected,’ he continued. ‘We know this is a difficult day for everyone, including us here at Air Canada.’

‘We are deeply saddened by the loss of two [Jazz Aviation LP] employees, and our deepest condolences go out to the entire Jazz community and their families,’ he added.

The devastating crash that killed the two pilots injured around 41 others onboard after the aircraft had been traveling at around 150mph during heavy rains on the runway. 

The Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900 landed at around 11.30pm on Sunday night before colliding with the fire truck. 

A terrified passenger shared shocking images of the damage to the aircraft

The fire truck had been given permission to cross the runway to deal with an unrelated issue with a separate plane, where a pilot reported that an ‘odor’ was filling the aircraft that left ‘flight attendants feeling ill’, officials said. 

As the fire truck raced to the other aircraft, air traffic controllers appeared to realize it was on a collision course with the Air Canada jet seconds before impact, as one said in the audio: ‘Truck One, stop, stop, stop!’ 

Addressing the plane seconds later, the air traffic controller said: ‘JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.’

There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the aircraft, and experts said the death toll could have been far higher if the truck had collided with the fuel stored on the plane. 

Images from the tarmac after the incident showed the truck was destroyed in the collision. The nose of the Air Canada plane had also been torn off by the impact.

One of the 41 people hospitalized in the crash was a female flight attendant, who was ejected through the front of the jet while still strapped to her jump seat. She was injured but is expected to make a full recovery.  

The crash resulted in LaGuardia grounding all flights until at least 2pm ET Monday as emergency crews raced to the scene. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. 

The Port Authority vehicle was turned on its side as several emergency responders flooded the runway

Sources told NBC News that the air traffic controller was working two positions at the time of the crash, amid an ongoing nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers. 

Jack Cabot, a passenger on the Air Canada jet, described the moment they made impact as ‘chaos.’ 

Cabot said the journey had been a ‘regular flight like always, but as we were arriving, we came down really hard.’

He said the hard landing saw the pilots ‘stop really quickly’ on the runway, before about two seconds later ‘there was just an absolute slam.’

‘Everybody was flying everywhere, the plane started veering off left and right,’ he told Fox News.

‘It was chaos, I mean it didn’t feel like there was anybody in control.’