Official Languages Committee on March 21st, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Good afternoon, everyone. I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 10 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of Thursday, November 25, 2021, and members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

Given the ongoing pandemic situation, and in the light of the recommendations from health authorities, to remain healthy and safe all those attending the meeting in person should follow the directives of the Board of Internal Economy.

I thank the members in advance for their cooperation.

For those of you who are attending virtually, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.

First, you may speak in the official language of your choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of either Floor, English or French. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately, and we will ensure interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. Please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself.

Those in the room, your microphones will be controlled as usual by the proceedings and verification officer.

When speaking, do as I do and speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mic should be on mute.

Should any technical challenges arise, please advise me immediately. Please note that we might need to suspend for a few minutes to ensure that all members are able to participate fully.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f) and the motion adopted by the committee on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, the committee is undertaking its study on the importance of official languages at Air Canada.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses from Air Canada, who are participating in the meeting by video conference. They are Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer; Marc Barbeau, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer; and David Rheault, Vice President, Government and Community Relations.

Mr. Rousseau, you will have a maximum of five minutes for your remarks, after which we will have a series of questions. I will signal to you when you have about one minute of speaking time left.

The floor is yours, Mr. Rousseau.

[Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada]

Members of the Committee, good afternoon.

Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today on the work of the committee on official languages. I am accompanied today by Marc Barbeau, our executive vice-president and chief legal officer, and David Rheault, our vice-president, government and community relations.

I would have liked to deliver more of my opening remarks in both official languages, but my ability to speak French is not yet equal to the effort I've been investing into learning it.

On November 3, during a scrum before the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, I regret having made a statement that was insensitive to the status of French. I have apologized for my comments, and I have been taking French lessons ever since.

I'm sorry. I apologize once again, and I take responsibility for my remarks. I regret the impact that my remarks have had on our employees, who serve our clients in both official languages every day.

I say to Canadians, and to Quebeckers in particular, that I am sincere in my commitment to advance Air Canada's official language efforts. I've also reinforced this commitment to our employees and to the management team.

Air Canada has a special connection with Canadians. We understand our responsibility with regard to bilingualism and our obligation to provide service to our clients and to communicate with them in both official languages.

Air Canada embraces the unique expectations of bilingualism and is doing its utmost to ensure we meet them.

We have an ambitious language action plan adopted in 2020. We have established our own language learning programs to help our employees improve their language skills and use French in serving our clients. We have always prioritized the hiring of bilingual employees. In fact, almost half of our employees who serve our customers are bilingual.

At Air Canada, serving our clients in both official languages is a priority.

Like with many of our corporate priorities, over the decade leading up to the pandemic, we had made strides in improving our track record on official languages. Our linguistic services team maintains regular communications with the commissioner’s office, and we work with them to treat complaints diligently.

In addition, in 2020, we filed our 2020-23 action plan and have since put in place a cross-functional management committee to monitor and co-ordinate the initiatives stemming from that plan.

I am pleased to share with you today that Air Canada is implementing new measures to improve and strengthen its commitment to bilingualism. Thanks to our employees who shared their suggestions and perspective helping us develop these new initiatives.

We have announced additional measures to reinforce bilingualism at Air Canada.

As we emerge from the pandemic, we will continue to increase our efforts to consult with employees, and to mobilize our teams to improve our approach and initiatives. Again, I hope my mistake, which I have taken full responsibility for, does not take away from the hard work of our dedicated employees who work every day to serve our customers in the language of their choice.

I am very proud to be Air Canada’s CEO. I have worked for 14 years with this company’s great people. I know that the challenges we faced during those years prepared me to lead them in what has been a very difficult and uncertain period for the industry. Canada needs a vibrant, global airline. We will work tirelessly to rebuild it for all Canadians as we recover from the pandemic.

Embracing linguistic duality and bilingualism is a responsibility of ours, a matter of pride and principle, and a sign of respect for Canada and all Canadians.

Bilingual service is aligned with our business objectives, and it is also proudly part of our brand and identity. Mostly due to the complexity of our business, sometimes we do not meet our aspirations. We know we can do better.

I am determined to do better, and I know I have the support of the entire Air Canada team.

Thank you for your attention.

I am now available to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much, Mr. Rousseau.

We will now go to our first round of questions. They will be asked by all the members of the parties represented on the Standing Committee on Official Languages, each of whom will have seven minutes to speak with the witnesses and to ask them questions.

I will now give the floor to the first vice-chair of the committee, Joël Godin.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First of all, Mr. Rousseau, I'd like to thank and congratulate you for your effort to address us in French. It's entirely laudable. My comment doesn't concern your ability to learn French. Since I take English immersion courses virtually every season, I can understand your situation. Please rest assured that I'm not directing my questions to you as an individual but rather as the president and chief executive officer of Air Canada.

You saw the scope of the impact of the remarks you made to journalists during a media scrum following a conference at the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. That raised some serious question marks in people's minds, my own included.

Before continuing, I'd like to warn you that, given our limited time, I'm going to ask you questions in quick succession and to interrupt you at certain points. I don't mean to be rude. Don't take it personally; I just want some answers to my questions.

You say you want to do better on bilingualism at Air Canada. However, for the past 45 years, most commissioners of official languages have shown that French is a systemic problem throughout the business. I'll grant that you haven't held your position for 45 years, but, as president, you're taking measures and you want to do better on bilingualism. The first question I'd like to ask you is this: how many unilingual francophone members sit on Air Canada's board of directors?

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, our board of directors consists of 12 individuals, including me. Air Canada is a global company. We attract board members from around the world and from across Canada. Currently, there are eight—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Pardon me for interrupting, but I'd just like you to give me a number.

How many board members are unilingual francophones?

[Michael Rousseau]

How many are unilingual francophones? Of the board of directors, four members can speak and understand French.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Are you saying there are four unilingual francophone members? That's my question. There are no unilingual francophone members.

Four out of twelve board members can speak French. That means that eight out of twelve members are unilingual anglophones.

If a board member asks questions or presents a project in French, can you understand what he or she says?

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, again, our company is a global company, and like other global companies, we attract board members from around the world. We have board members from outside Canada and from across Canada. For the most part, the language used at the board is English.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

As you know, you operate under the Official Languages Act, and I believe you're required to allow your employees the opportunity to speak in both official languages.

If the board works solely in English, and if the president of Air Canada makes comments like the ones you made in Montreal last November, you can understand that that troubles us.

There's been a systemic problem at Air Canada for 45 years, but the pilot, as it were, doesn't seem concerned about it. If neither you nor the board uses French, how can respect for the French language be transmitted down the chain of employees and to Air Canada's operations as a whole?

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, we adhere to all parts of the Official Languages Act in communication with our employees. When we speak to our employees, we speak in both official languages. They can ask any question in any language they so choose when they speak to management. That has been in place for as long as I know, and that will continue.

Additionally, approximately 50% of Air Canada's employees who are customer-facing are bilingual.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Pardon me for interrupting, but I only have one minute left.

Did you consult the Minister of Official Languages or members of her staff when Bill C‑13 was being developed?

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, I did not personally consult with the commissioner on Bill C-13, but, if possible, I would like to delegate the question to David Rheault, who would have been much closer to that situation.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

The question's intended for you, and I'm referring to the Minister of Official Languages, Ms. Petitpas Taylor, or her team, not the Commissioner.

Were you or your team of senior officials involved in drafting Bill C‑13? You're concerned by the bill and the connection with the Commissioner of Official Languages.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I apologize for interrupting, Mr. Godin. Mr. Rousseau may be able to clarify his thoughts in response to further questioning.

The next speaker is Francis Drouin.

Mr. Drouin, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I too want to congratulate the president of Air Canada for his efforts to speak French. I will never judge anyone because he does or doesn't have an accent. We should celebrate our accents, and Lord knows there are a lot of them, even in the francophone world.

Mr. Rousseau, you may delegate this question to someone who can answer it. I'm mainly interested in the services that Air Canada provides to its clients.

What procedures does Air Canada put in place to ensure it serves consumers in English and in French?

When employees are unable to serve them in both official languages, what internal processes are in place to ensure the issue is resolved?

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, I will take that question, and if needed, I will refer to David.

At our call centres, customers would indicate whether they wanted to be served in French or English. That would go to a call centre employee who can speak that respective language. At the airport, if a customer approaches one of our staff, and that staff cannot speak French, they say, “Un moment s'il vous plaît”, and they go find a French-speaking employee.

If there's no one around, or if it can't be done in time, we have a special number for that employee to call, so that a bilingual agent can speak to that customer and rectify the issue. In the aircraft, with our flight attendants, we have a very sophisticated manpower planning system that puts a bilingual flight attendant, at least one bilingual flight attendant, on every flight. That's a requirement. Again, on the plane, if customers speak to an English-only-speaking flight attendant, that flight attendant does say, “Un moment s'il vous plaît”, and finds the bilingual flight attendant to respond to those customers in the language of their choice.

Mr. Chairman, I'll ask David to make any other comments.

[David Rheault, Vice President, Government and Community Relations, Air Canada]

Actually, I think Mr. Rousseau accurately summarized the procedure that's applied to ensure we meet our official language obligations.

As regards the assignment of flight attendants, for example, we obviously verify our compliance rate every month to ensure the system's working. I can also confirm that, last year, service was offered in both official languages, in accordance with the act, 99.95% of the time on all Air Canada flights, for both high- and low-demand flights.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

What other barriers is Air Canada facing? I'm thinking, for example, of a crew that have to deadhead to a destination where they're assigned to another flight. The first flight is delayed for some reason, and those crew members can't work their assigned flight. I bet we've all been in that situation.

How can you assure us then that you're complying with the Official Languages Act and that your clients are being served in both official languages when that kind of situation arises? Is that how you'd explain the 0.5% rate of non-compliance with the act?

[David Rheault]

Allow me to provide some additional information, Mr. Drouin.

Non-compliance with the act doesn't necessarily occur because many flights aren't high-demand. Our policy is to assign bilingual personnel to all flights no matter whether they're high- or low-demand.

Regional carriers such as Jazz, which is one of our regional partners, operate flights with only one flight attendant since the regions are mainly served by smaller aircraft. Jazz has instituted a personnel assignment system to ensure that bilingual attendants are on all high-demand flights.

There may be operational problems, as you mentioned. For example, if flight attendants are unable to get to work on time as a result of inclement weather, we call in a reserve attendant who's bilingual. If no reserve bilingual flight attendants are available, we may be forced to assign a unilingual attendant to a flight at the last minute. We've received complaints about this and immediately checked to see whether those situations were caused by what we call extraordinary unforeseen circumstances.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Rheault.

We will go to the next speaker, our second vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, Mario Beaulieu.

Mr. Beaulieu, go ahead for six minutes.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Rousseau, the board announced on November 9 that you were starting intensive French-language training. When you were appointed to your position, Le Journal de Montréal asked whether you spoke French. Your representative answered that you had been living in Quebec since 2007, that you were functionally proficient in oral French and that you were constantly improving.

Were you aware of that statement, and did you approve it? Also, do you think that giving out false information is a good strategy?

I'd like to hear your comments on that point.

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, first of all, giving out false information is never a good strategy. That would never be our intent.

I would have to go back and check with our people as to what was discussed in my absence and before the chamber of commerce presentation or after the chamber of commerce presentation.

I don't have visibility as to what was indicated to the media at that point in time.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

We can send that information to you. The journalist asked that question and was given that information roughly a year before 2020. If my understanding's correct, you weren't aware of that statement and didn't approve the strategy of giving out false information.

I'll move on to my second question. As you said earlier, the board of directors announced in November that you were starting intensive French-language training.

Would you please tell us a little more about how your French language training is going?

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, I have daily lessons each morning with two different tutors from a well-recognized firm. They assign me homework at night, which I complete for the next session. The routine is every morning, and then homework virtually every night.