Official Languages Committee on April 13th, 2010

[Louise McEvoy]

An employee working at an airport takes four or five weeks of general training. As for flight personnel, they take eight weeks of training which are basically focused on safety. The training is also focused on service, but it is mostly on safety. Afterwards, an employee can organize his or her time to take up to eight days of classes per month in Toronto or in Vancouver, for instance, to maintain his or her language skills.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

It's up to the employee; it is not recommended by the employer.

[Louise McEvoy]

As long as the employee passes the test—

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Does the employee's director or supervisor keep track of the employee's skills?

[Louise McEvoy]

The courses an employee takes are included in the employee's file. The employee's supervisor can, at any time, see which courses the employee has taken.

Some employees have a French-speaking spouse and so they can practise their French at home or with friends, whereas others need to take a course. They take a test every two years and this is how we measure their skill level.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Ms. Zarac.

I will now give the floor to Mr. Weston.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Good morning and welcome to Ms. McEvoy, Ms. Sénécal and Mr. Galimberti.

As is the case of many Canadians, I think, I am proud to live in a country which has a world-class airline. I am also proud to see that the French language is not only thriving in Quebec, but also in my own province, British Columbia.

I heard three statistics this morning: 55% of your employees are bilingual; you receive 1.5 million complaints, and 1 passenger out of 100 asks for service in both languages.

I am stunned by the level of bilingualism you provide. I am very impressed by the efforts that you are making. I think that we must salute these efforts and not criticize the 1.5 million complaints. We know, thanks to the testimony we have heard this morning, that 15% of the complaints made this year come from here. If you can promise to serve Mr. Godin his orange juice, I think that will bring down the number of complaints.

Can you tell us what can be done to improve the level of service, for example, to encourage more bilingual people to become part of your team?

[Louise McEvoy]

I suggest that passengers continue to demand service in both languages. This is already a way to make all of our employees aware of the matter. I don't know if I should talk about financial support, but there is no doubt that training 37 people during working hours costs Air Canada a lot of money because these people need to be replaced when they are in class full-time during four weeks. In my opinion, if this type of class could be offered once a month, and employees trained throughout the entire year, that would be perfect, it would be ideal.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Is there anything else you would like to add?

[Louise McEvoy]

Of course, recruitment is also one of our greatest challenges.

Within the education system, immersion programs help many young people learn French, but then they lose it because they do not practise. Frankly, I can't really see how it is possible to help them. In our business, with our courses, we manage to do so, but in society as a whole—

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Do you need to attract clients who speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese or other languages?

[Louise McEvoy]

Spanish, German... yes.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

You have just said that there are bilingual employees on basically every flight, correct?

[Louise McEvoy]

At least one.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

If a passenger asks for service in French, and the employee speaks only French or English, that employee can get someone else.

[Louise McEvoy]

That's exactly what employees are supposed to do. We ask them to find a bilingual colleague and to politely ask the passenger to wait a moment. Exactly.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

As far as training is concerned, you have just said that you offer many classes.

[Louise McEvoy]

There are many classes and a great deal of interest for these classes at every level.

If we offered new classes for beginners every month, I am sure that many people would sign up. We offer as many classes as we can afford, and there is a lot of interest for them across the country.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Can one say that what you are doing raises awareness—

[Louise McEvoy]

—of bilingualism within the company?

Yes. It certainly increases awareness. In our daily bulletins, and in the company's publications, there is always something about languages. We remind employees of their obligations, and we offer them courses. Indeed, this does increase the level of awareness of bilingualism.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

I think that bilingualism is truly a flagship in Canada.

Thank you very much.

[Louise McEvoy]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Weston.

We will now continue with Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Tell me, who gives these training courses?

[Louise McEvoy]

We have French as a second language teachers and English as a second language teachers, because there also is a need for that type of teaching.