I used to think French just wasn’t important at Air Canada. Worship was organized for the language of the majority and provision was made to cater superficially to the cumbersome rules governing official languages.

• Also read: Air Canada’s CEO earned $12.4 million last year

Today I think differently. It’s no longer just carelessness or disinterest. Air Canada acts to enforce English in a maximum of its operations. We feel the company is pushing the boundaries of what can be accepted by French speakers without much protest.

On Wednesday morning, Quebec’s three largest dailies each ran their stories on Air Canada and French. The newspaper presented the story of Jean-Pierre Beaudoina Quebec businessman who was categorically denied service in French…on a flight departing from Quebec.

La Presse tells us that an oversight occurred when Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau’s compensation was increased to $12.4 million. Air Canada had promised that proficiency in French would be part of the CEO’s performance evaluation. So his salary has more than tripled… while the French standard goes up in smoke.

As for Le Devoir, they had kept a dossier on Quebec TV’s scanty French-language offering, which was integrated into Air Canada aircraft’s entertainment systems. Only five French television productions from Quebec can be found there, including one in which Molière’s language appears in the subtitles and another (Les gags) is simply silent.

Be it inflight service, entertainment system or senior management, there is no jealousy… French is neglected from end to end at Air Canada!

nice people too…

The case of passenger Jean-Pierre Beaudoin probably explains in part how Air Canada is faring. We say nothing. Mr. Beaudoin asked for help in French on a plane bound for Quebec. There were essentially only French speakers on board. Nobody says anything but him. Too good people…

I don’t blame you, I understand. I do the same sometimes. We don’t want to cause any problems. We reply in English to simplify our life and move on. If everyone does that, the company ends up thinking everything is fine in English.

Then one day a case as pathetic as that of Mr. Beaudoin came up. He’s on a flight full of French speakers in Quebec. He asks for service in French. But the flight attendant assigned to her row is monolingual Anglophone. We end up threatening Mr. Beaudoin, we suggest he get off the plane and catch another flight later.

shameless

The company is demonstrating its contempt, but also its cattle front.

How is it that an organization has so many fronts? When she thinks she’s above the law. If the government is serious about its official language law, it has to give it some teeth, penalties that hurt enough to change old habits.