Evidence of meeting #20 for Official Languages in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was languages.
A video is available from Parliament.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
That’s what I just said. We need a system with rules and expectations that reflect the industry. If the service falls short during the flight, recourse may indeed be available, but it should apply to everyone. You can read my comments in our report.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
If the government sets out regulations for you to follow and you refuse, what would the repercussions be on your company?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
We saw the documents from the commissioner last week. We have not had a chance to study the matter with our lawyers between last week and today. We will continue to look at what we can do. As I just said, language standards need to be applied to the entire industry, to all the airlines.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
I want you to know that not all companies have been under the jurisdiction of a government. Air Canada was privatized and signed a contract. You have a responsibility in terms of official languages. The other companies are private and have never been under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada. I understand your frustration, which you have often expressed in your document. By the way, I found the tone in your document a little aggressive.
The other companies have not been under the jurisdiction of a government before. When Air Canada was privatized, it signed a contract. I am not the one who was there and signed the contract. You are subject to laws—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
There was no contract with—
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Just a moment. You are subject to the Official Languages Act. What more do you need? What do we, parliamentarians or anyone else, need to do to ensure that you comply with it?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
Mrs. Boucher, we comply with the Official Languages Act. As we just said, bilingualism is not a cut and dried process. In every situation, the process is complicated. The satisfaction rate is 94%. I know that you don’t want to hear it, but let me reiterate: the complaint rate is 0.000024%. So we do comply with the act. That’s the first thing.
Furthermore, there was no contract to sign. Here's how the privatization process worked. In 1988, the government decided to privatize the company. At the time, it imposed certain conditions, in light of Air Canada’s size. Since then, Air Canada has become smaller compared to the air industry. We represent 50%, and the others represent the remaining 50%. There have been changes. It’s as simple as that.
You are discussing medical assistance in dying. I think you could also discuss the evolution of a company that was privatized 30 years ago.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
With all due respect—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Mrs. Boucher, your time is up.
Ms. Lapointe, you now have the floor.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I will move ahead a bit and make a suggestion.
My colleague said that, when she was on the plane to Vancouver, someone asked for a glass of water in French and the person did not understand what she said. You said that you have the tools and reminders for your employees. Perhaps you need pictures for very simple things, to show for instance what a glass of water is. I’m sure they can understand “agua, por favor”. It is really awful that, on a flight from Montreal to Vancouver, the crew can’t understand the words “un verre d'eau”.
If you are developing tools for your employees, you should include pictures. As a francophone, I find it very frustrating to see that we can’t be served properly.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I haven’t finished.
There’s something else. When you go—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
Have you personally experienced something like that on one of our flights?
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
That’s not what I am talking about. I am referring to my colleague’s remarks.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
I am asking you a question. Have you had a—
Liberal
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you. I will continue.
When you want to make a complaint on the Air Canada website, you can click on a link for language-related complaints. So I am a little surprised that you don’t have the data on those complaints and that you are not able to confirm them.
Assistant General Counsel, Law Branch, Air Canada
I said that we would check and provide you with an answer.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
There’s a link on the website.
I will ask another question related to human resources again.
In the Canadian public service, an annual bilingualism bonus of $800 is provided to employees. Do you provide an incentive like that to your employees?
Assistant General Counsel, Law Branch, Air Canada
We apply the principle of privileged seniority.
Director, Government Affairs and Community Relations, Air Canada
We have recognition awards for the employees who demonstrate an ability to provide service in both official languages. We have even set up a new program this year to improve the recognition awards.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I will make a comment on what you said earlier.
You are asking that all Canadian airlines be subject to the same rules as you. A little earlier, you said that you had a hard time finding bilingual workers. If the same rules applied to everyone, there would be major problems. There are problems already.
Could you elaborate on your suggestion to broaden the application of the rules?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
What I said is that, in Canada, based on the statistics that probably come from the Canadian census, which is now mandatory, 17% of people are bilingual. Those are not my figures. The bilingual people outside Quebec represent 10% of the population.
At Air Canada, 50% of people dealing with customers are bilingual. We are already ahead of other companies on that front. I am just saying that the standard used to evaluate whether a company is doing well, whether it has successes or failures, should be the same for all companies.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you.
By the way, my riding is between the two Montreal airports, and many of the residents work in air services. For your information, 50% of our residents are bilingual.