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.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
You have been the president of Air Canada since 2009, which you said earlier. You are also the president of Star Alliance, which includes airlines that are required to operate with more than one official language. There is Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, and Adria Airways.
Given that you have been the president of Star Alliance for a few years, have you discovered any good practices when it comes to official languages?
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
Yes, people speak many languages in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, in particular. The reality of these companies is a little different than ours. They hire multilingual employees. As for us, this brings about another problem, because people who speak a language other than English or French are difficult to integrate into the service.
The dynamic of these countries is different, and I would say that, compared to them, our statistic of having 50% bilingual people who work with customers is probably still very high. I don't know whether this statistic is higher than theirs, but it's probably among the highest when it comes to bilingualism. I would even say that it is higher than Swiss International Air Lines.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Swiss International Air Lines operates with four languages. We only have two. It seems to me that it should be fairly easy to meet the needs.
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada
With Swiss International Air Lines, it's important to point out that Germans often speak German and English, but not necessarily French.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Right. Thank you.
You mentioned that half of your staff is bilingual. Are we talking about employees who deal with customers?
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Mr. Chair, Mr. Arseneault would like to use the rest of my time to ask a question.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
I want to follow up on something my colleague, Ms. Boucher, said. Unlike Mr. Rovinescu, you and I both know, Ms. Sénécal, that simple complaints submitted to the Air Canada office are settled out of court. I don't know how many complaints have been settled. I know the court considered $1,500 a completely reasonable amount to compensate for Air Canada's failure to meet language requirements.
If, for example, the passengers on Ms. Boucher's flight call your office to complain, can they expect to receive $1,500?
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Is the public to understand that, for Air Canada, secretly paying out $1,500 or some other amount is easier than respecting language rights?
4:35 p.m.
Assistant General Counsel, Law Branch, Air Canada
No, that's going a bit too far. Our passengers on the flight from Montreal to Vancouver were likely travelling abroad. We'll look into it.
That said, a $1,500 settlement following a complaint is quite rare.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Thank you.
Thank you for speaking with us, Mr. Rovinescu. We would like the people with you to stay to continue the discussion in the second hour. If the committee members want to hear from you again, you can come back.
In the meantime, thank you for being here today.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
The meeting is reconvened.
Thank you for staying with us.
Since no witnesses need to be introduced—they were introduced at the start of the first hour—we will begin immediately with questions from members, as planned. They will have six minutes. If some members want to share their time, they are free to do so as long as they let me know.
Mr. Généreux, go ahead.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for staying to answer our questions.
Your boss has left. Normally, that's when the mice come out to play. You are therefore invited to play as much as you like.
My colleague, Ms. Boucher, said earlier she found the president's tone somewhat—
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
From the perspective of people outside Air Canada, some level of frustration is understandable, to say the least. The employees were very disappointed with the commissioner's report because it failed to acknowledge their efforts. The president spoke about it earlier, and it really caught my attention. Personally, I find that very unfortunate. I, myself, am a business owner. I know we try hard to provide good service to our clients, and sometimes it's not acknowledged as much as we would like it to be.
Here, in the public realm, you're subject to all sorts of things, and you're even more in the public eye. You have made considerable efforts, and the president spoke about them. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to speak about something a bit earlier. In your last five reports, you estimated that you needed about $2 million to fulfill your obligations. Is that right?
4:45 p.m.
Assistant General Counsel, Law Branch, Air Canada
The $2 million covers the language training budget only. It does not cover all the translation costs, including the costs for translating all the pictograms, bilingual advertising, and other things. That's not a complaint. I simply want to make things clear. The $2 million covers only the language training program. It does not include the travel costs for staff on training. Also, if the staff are studying, they're not working.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
I want to look at these amounts. In general, have they remained fairly stable over the years, or have they increased?
4:45 p.m.
Director, Government Affairs and Community Relations, Air Canada
I want to go back to the start of your question, when you referred to aggressiveness. I think conviction is the better word. We did express a certain level of frustration, since the reports highlight what didn't work very well. However, we would also like to talk, as Mr. Rovinescu did, about what works. Unfortunately, it's not mentioned.
Dissatisfaction is the feeling most often expressed to us by employees who were not pleased. A great deal is being done. Consistent efforts are being made to improve bilingualism at Air Canada, and this was explicitly acknowledged in some of the commissioner's reports.
I agree with you. The situation isn't perfect, and work still needs to be done.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Do you think a more positive approach can be taken to resolve the issue, which has been going on for years? I'm referring to the relationship between you and the government.
