Bonjour. Michael Rousseau, Air Canada’s CEO for five years, announced his resignation from the Montreal-based airline yesterday after being criticized for speaking little French in a video statement regarding last week’s fatal crash at LaGuardia Airport. Mind-boggling: Didn’t Rousseau do that? know How do I say something other than “hello” and “thank you” in both of Canada’s two official languages? Didn’t others notice? What is clear is that this backlash is about more than linguistic ability. Some key points:
He didn’t even try. If there’s ever a time to add a few French sentences to your teleprompter, it’s when discussing the tragic death of a French-speaking employee, pilot Antoine Forest. (Ontario pilot Mackenzie Gunther also died.) And Mr. Rousseau had promised to learn French in 2021 after facing similar backlash. After five years and 300 hours of language classes, was this the best he could do? No wonder critics question his empathy, dedication, and frankly his ability to learn. As one CEO said: “He brought this on himself.”
French is of Official language of Quebec. When we left Scotland, my father wanted to live in Montreal, but the province’s French language laws forced him to set up his business in Ontario. That said, he had great respect for how these laws allowed Quebec to preserve its unique language and culture. Preserving Quebec’s Francophone identity remains non-negotiable. See Bill 96. This is a recent law that requires companies with 25 or more employees to certify French as the primary workplace language. Some CEOs complain that it increases costs and hurts their ability to hire talent. President Trump tried to target it in trade negotiations, to no avail. If multinationals have to adapt, why is Air Canada’s CEO exempt from speaking French?
Where is the bulletin board? Every CEO becomes the company’s chief communicator during a crisis, and running an airline involves a lot of public speaking for a variety of reasons. In 2021, the board may have recognized Rousseau’s blunt attitude toward French as a problem. It was their job to spot the red flags and help him fix the problem. If only they had known that Rousseau was still unable to move beyond “That!” After 300 hours of training, he should have acted sooner to avoid public embarrassment. As my colleague Phil Waba points out, a leader’s inability or unwillingness to learn what they need to do their job is pure evil.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com.
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