Official Languages Committee on June 15th, 2016

[David Rheault]

Obviously, for us—

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

If so, what are the options?

[David Rheault]

We always use a positive tone to deliver the message to our employees. We try to take pride in showing that bilingualism is a matter of providing quality client service.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

You spoke of conviction, and the president's message was quite clear. He was convinced that it should extend to the entire industry, and not only to Air Canada. He made himself quite clear.

Your apparent frustration with the issue is noticeable in different activities or actions, in various reports, or in other aspects of daily life. It sometimes comes across as though internally, there's a certain culture of disgust concerning the requirement to serve people in French. This was noted when the president told us that only 17% of Canadians are francophone.

[David Rheault]

No, not at all.

[Arielle Meloul]

No.

[David Rheault]

I think the frustration stems from the commissioner's reports, the tone used, and the way our efforts and actions are judged by the commissioner. References were obviously made to the Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada decisions. It should be known that the decisions are relatively recent. The commissioner got involved in the files handled by the courts, argued that Air Canada had systemic problems, and requested extraordinary orders. The courts rejected the request.

We were able to show all our efforts. The courts ruled that the commissioner's allegations did not match the evidence and acknowledged that Air Canada did not have a systemic problem. That said, the court acknowledged that, in some situations, the Official Languages Act was not respected and employees failed to provide services in French. Although the court made that acknowledgement, it first recognized that these cases did not warrant exceptional measures because Air Canada was aware of its obligations and met them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Samson and Mr. Lefebvre will share their speaking time.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I will ask you a number of questions about your survey.

You referred to a survey indicating that 94% of people were satisfied. If I'm not mistaken, Ipsos Reid conducted the survey.

Can you tell us which methodology was used to conduct the survey?

[Arielle Meloul]

Yes. It was an independent survey conducted by Ipsos Reid. The company asked 5,300 Air Canada passengers about their level of satisfaction with the bilingual services.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Can you provide the committee with details on the methodology used for the survey or a copy of the survey?

[Arielle Meloul]

We need to check.

[David Rheault]

We need to check.

[Arielle Meloul]

We need to check with the company.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Can you provide us with a copy of the mandate you established for the company's service offering to conduct the survey?

[Arielle Meloul]

Yes, we can look into that. The survey is conducted each year. Honestly, at this point, I think it's a verbal agreement. Regardless, we can see what we have.

[Louise-Hélène Sénécal]

Can I add—

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

One moment, please.

Can you send the documents to the clerk's office so he can distribute them to the committee members?

[Louise-Hélène Sénécal]

Yes.

Ipsos Reid is a professional polling firm, like Léger Marketing and Nanos. Those people would never accept a mandate in which we asked them to ensure the survey showed such and such a thing. It's a reputable independent polling firm.

[David Rheault]

That's exactly why we deal with a recognized outside company.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I'm sure. I just wanted to have a chance to consider it. Also, we may have suggestions for the future. That's why I want details on the methodology.

You probably exchanged correspondence with the company regarding the survey. Can you send it to us?

[Arielle Meloul]

We'll see what we have.

[David Rheault]

We'll check whether correspondence was exchanged after the survey was received.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You can then inform the clerk.

[David Rheault]

Absolutely. That's the plan.