Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, there is no doubt that the most difficult decision we had to make during the pandemic was to lay off almost 20,000 of our employees. Luckily and with good fortune, they're almost all back to work—the ones who chose to come back. We accessed the CEWS fund, as many c

Official Languages committee  We've never relied on government assistance for humanitarian aid. Air Canada has a rich history of providing humanitarian aid all by itself in Haiti and in British Columbia, in response to the fires. A week and a half ago, we sent a 787 aircraft full of cargo to Warsaw for the Uk

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, in response to the question, let me say first of all that Air Canada very much respects both official languages and the Official Languages Act. We do our best to adhere to all of the rules. As we've spoken about before to many commissioners, the complexity of our busi

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, since the report from Commissioner Fraser—and David Rheault can provide more details—I believe we've provided over 130,000 training hours to over 10,000 employees to learn how to speak French. We have substantial resources within the company to have anyone learn a seco

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, I'd like to delegate to David on that more detailed question.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, I admit I made a mistake by not learning to speak French when I joined Air Canada. I'm obviously correcting that mistake at this point in time. I look forward to being able to communicate much better in French with an appropriate accent over the next little while.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, as you know, we are currently subject to the Official Languages Act because we operate across Canada and, frankly, across the world. Although we have some challenges and are continuously trying to improve our performance under the Official Languages Act, it is more

Official Languages committee  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 co

Official Languages committee  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.

Official Languages committee  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.

Official Languages committee  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

Official Languages committee  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—

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

Official Languages committee  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.

Official Languages committee  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 pl