On August 16, 2009, on board Toronto to Ottawa VIA Rail train number 46, specifically car number 3, most announcements were provided in English only during an emergency situation. The railway conductor initially provided security instructions in English only but subsequently partially repeated them in French in response to a request from a complainant. The complainant believes the railway conductor does not have a sufficient command of French to be responsible for a train as the second set of instructions she provided were such that passengers had to guess at the information provided in French. Furthermore, another employee advised passengers, in English only, that VIA Rail had been contacted and that engineers would be arriving shortly. Further to that, two or three staff members stated, in English only, that they would establish a medical list to recover a suitcase containing medication. The complainant also finds deplorable comments made by the VIA Rail spokesperson with regard to questions on the lack of services and instructions in French during this incident. The complainant is of the view that VIA Rail should make a greater effort to serve travellers in the language of their choice, especially in emergency situations.
On October 8th, 2009. See this statement in context.