Official Languages Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2026

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

Mr. Rheault, I'm going to calculate the number of pages of these regulations.

I want to remind the people who are listening to us or who are going to read what we commonly call “the blues”, or the verbatim record, that the Official Languages Act received royal assent on June 20, 2023.

These regulations came out at the end of the previous parliamentary session last year, in early December. I find it strange that this is what we're coming up with.

You, Mr. Rheault, if you could help us be better…. I really feel that you're making an effort at Air Canada. Honestly, I use your services, and I'm always pleased when a flight attendant comes to see me near the emergency exits to ask if I want the instructions in French or in English. The majority say that they want the instructions in English. I, the obnoxious one, say that I want them in French. Well, in 95% of cases, the person speaks French. They can give me the instructions in French. If not, I'm told that I can see someone else. At that point, I tell them it isn't necessary. As long as someone else on the plane can speak to me in French, if I need information or instructions for safety measures, French is always there. That's to your credit. Keep up the good work, because you know the rules constantly have to be reiterated.

That said, how could we do even better? Help us out.

We will be tabling recommendations for the analysis of those regulations. If you don't have the answer today, can you provide us with potential solutions, suggestions for amendments to the regulations or for new sections? That would be deeply appreciated.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

There are only 15 seconds left.

I would ask the witness to give a very short answer.

[David Rheault]

First, thank you for your comments on your travel experience. It speaks to the fact that we have procedures in place. Indeed, if a flight attendant is unable to deliver service in French, the procedure is to find a colleague who can.

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

There's a missing 5%. I said, “95%”.

[David Rheault]

Yes, but if the procedure is followed, the other person will come. We're aware that things aren't always perfect. That's why we're working to improve—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Please answer very quickly, Mr. Rheault, because the time is up.

[David Rheault]

We'll follow up on the recommendations, perhaps in writing. That would be wiser on our part.

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

Yes, we would like to have it quickly so that we can include it in our report. I would appreciate that.

Thank you, Mr. Rheault.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you.

Mr. Godin, I would like to reassure you. When I travel with my fiancée, Amanda, she almost always asks for service in French, and she isn't obnoxious.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I wanted to reassure you.

I will now give the floor to Ms. Chenette for six minutes.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you very much to Mr. Barbeau and Mr. Rheault for being here today.

In my life, I have had the privilege of having your company as a client. I have had the privilege of sitting on airline boards of directors. I know how complex it is to have to meet commitments, every day, every minute, and do so safely, when it comes to your flights.

That said, I would like to understand one thing.

In the context of the project to modernize the Official Languages Act, what do you think is really the purpose of administrative monetary penalties?

[David Rheault]

That's a very good question, actually. However, I think it would be up to the government to respond.

As I mentioned in my opening remarks, at Air Canada, we say that it's a part of our culture to comply with and meet our legal and regulatory obligations. For that reason, we have measures in place to ensure that we meet our obligations. Now, it's complex, as you know. It's complex. We're working not only to reduce the number of complaints as much as possible, but also to increase the number of satisfied customers. That's what we want.

I can tell you that, in our opinion, it isn't a matter of having monetary penalties or not. It's a matter of the company's priorities and values.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I'm going to pick up on what you just mentioned.

Indeed, our government is currently saying that we have to control what we can control. Okay. Basically, you're one of the jewels in the crown of businesses. That's why there are four that have been targeted at the outset.

Air Canada has the word “Canada” in its company name. In a context where people have to be increasingly proud to be Quebeckers but also proud to be Canadian, you have a competitive advantage by having the word “Canada” in your name right now.

That being the case, in terms of this logic of valuing, shouldn't you reinforce this culture and these values? It shouldn't be out of obligation or for the pleasure of responding to a francophone that services offer both official languages. Instead, French should be even more prominent from the very first contact to promote our two official languages to all travellers who come to Canada or whom you take abroad.

Isn't this an opportunity for your company to stand out from the competition and see this as a risk and a cost, since you're already very efficient?

[David Rheault]

Indeed, this aspect enables us to stand out from the competition. We're confident that we provide service in both official languages and that we do so much more than any other airline. In fact, we're the only ones with that obligation. What we're saying is that failure to comply with that obligation shouldn't result in penalties.

You mentioned that our company name has the word “Canada”, which is true. In all, four institutions are subject to these penalties, and we're the only private company in this competitive environment. Air transportation is very competitive in Canada, as I said in my opening remarks. That means we find ourselves with official language obligations that can result in penalties if we fail to comply, whereas other carriers don't have those obligations. They don't even face consequences if they don't have a compliance system. That creates a kind of asymmetry in the environment.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I understand your point, but I repeat that your company is called Air Canada.

The government has always been sensitive to Air Canada's development, its positioning and, of course, the competitive environment in which we find ourselves. With that in mind, we heard from representatives of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, or FCFA, in December. They spoke to us about the cap on penalties. They actually wanted it to be even higher.

I have two questions for you.

I understand the possible impact of multiple penalties of up to $50,000. Given the fact that you're already well equipped to address this aspect and set the example you can—we're no doubt currently in the first stage—what should the penalties be right now?

As some people mentioned, the penalty amounts should be higher because you already have a good track record in that area, so you shouldn't be concerned about that.

[David Rheault]

I'll go back to the first part of your question.

First, our compliance rate is very high: We're making a lot of effort. Instead of penalizing a company that isn't perfect, it would be better to start by looking at what obligations other companies might have.

As for the penalty amounts, the act provided for $25,000. That was doubled in the regulations. As I said in my opening remarks, that can be very significant when it comes to transporting 50 million passengers a year and having 400,000 flights a year. Yes, that amount can become significant. In the case of certain routes, it can lead to higher costs.

We have a compliance program, and we're going to do everything we can to avoid fines. In other words, we aren't looking to get them. For us, paying fines because we don't comply with obligations isn't a business model. I have heard comments to that effect, and I just want to clarify one thing. Our business model doesn't include any sort of regulatory obligation.

I don't know if Mr. Barbeau would like to add anything to that.

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

You have 30 seconds left, Ms. Chenette.

Mr. Barbeau, you have the floor.

[Marc Barbeau, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Air Canada]

I would add that there's another dimension. What's the equivalent in the Quebec environment? The Charter of the French Language provides for a judicial system, that is, appearing before a judge. Those aren't administrative penalties, as the federal government is proposing. In that case, the maximum amount is $30,000. There are distinctions to be made, but, on the face of it, that amount can go as high as $30,000. However, as I told you, there are exceptions in cases of repeat offences and so on.

An amount of around $25,000 seemed consistent with what's being done in Quebec. However, the regulations provide for an amount of $50,000. According to statistics from the Office québécois de la langue française, or OQLF, very few fines have been issued in the past five or six years, and the amounts have been around $2,000.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Barbeau, time is up.

[David Rheault]

I just want to say that we mentioned the comments on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Rheault, I'm sorry, but your time is up. You may have a chance to come back to that in the next questions.

I'm now going to give the floor to Mr. Beaulieu for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to come back to what was said.

Given that Air Canada was a Crown corporation for a long time, isn't it normal for it to face higher expectations?

[David Rheault]

We're aware that there are higher expectations of Air Canada.

The market has evolved since Air Canada was privatized. Wouldn't it also be desirable for legal and regulatory obligations to apply to the industry in a more uniform way?

I'd like to come back to what the FCFA representatives said. They commented on the amount of the fines, but they also asked that the penalties and obligations apply to the industry as a whole.

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

I quite agree with expanding the scope of the obligations. I think that imposing monetary penalties is a good idea, but it's extremely complicated to get to that point, so I don't think it would be very costly for Air Canada.

When you talk about expanding the obligations, do you mean imposing them on all airlines, including private companies?