Evidence of meeting #8 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bilingual.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Now if I understand correctly, Air Canada does not really check whether a person has passed the test or not.
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
No, Jazz will inform us—
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
There are four levels. People at the fourth level have to be perfectly bilingual; they can speak the language as if it were their mother tongue. That is what you said, isn't that so?
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
It is equivalent to their mother tongue.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Take the case of a flight attendant who can say “bonjour” and that he will find a colleague—in passing, I disagree with this way of doing things and will give you my reasons—at what level would he be?
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
We are talking about level 3. That is a level for which we conduct regular tests.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Okay, but it has to be more than simply being able to say that you do not understand, especially when the client has asked for a glass of orange juice.
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
No, that person is able to understand—
NDP
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
—the questions and answer them, perhaps in a simple, not necessarily complex way, but he can understand.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
I swear that she did not understand a thing. She did not feel good about that.
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
We will follow up on that case.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Frankly, I want you to do an investigation.
You said that there have been 355 complaints over the past 5 years. It is often said that 1 complaint filed represents 50 unhappy people. Have you heard about those numbers?
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
Yes.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
That is nothing new. Of those 355 complaints, how many were for services in English and services in French?
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
There are complaints regarding services in English, but very few.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
What type of complaint do you receive with regard to the English language? Is it concerning people who do not like to hear French? I heard that once from people at Air Canada.
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
There have been such complaints, but there are also complaints from people who could not be served in English.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
To summarize, here is the problem—anglophones do not have the same problem because they do not file complaints. Put yourself in a francophone's shoes: someone who is in economy class and wants to be served, but who is told to wait a moment in order to be served by the bilingual employee in business class; the passenger has to wait for the other flight attendant before he can receive his glass of orange juice. Can you imagine the situation in which that person finds himself?
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
It isn't an ideal situation, but the official languages commissioner deemed that administrative measure to be acceptable.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
The official languages commissioner should have to sit in the plane while the flight attendant serves everyone else before him, making him the last person to be served. It is enough to feel embarrassed in front of everyone else. That is the reality of the situation.
That is why only 1 person out of 100 will file a complaint or ask for the service. If only 1 person out of 100 asks for the service, it is simply because it is not worth the trouble.
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
That is why in the “Un moment s'il vous plaît” course for all non-bilingual staff, there are vocabulary lists for service-related terms such as “ jus d'orange”, etc.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
What is the government trying to defend this morning? I would say that with respect to the 61% figure as to Air Canada's violation of the Official Languages Act, it is the government's responsibility to enforce the act. Well, the government is not doing that and today, it is attempting to make excuses by saying you have been good and we are the bad guys because we want the act upheld.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Well, I am the bad guy, Mr. Godin; your time is up.
Did you want to add an answer?
General Manager , Languages and Diversity, Employee Relations, Air Canada
What is the 61% that has been referred to?