Trudeau to Air Canada CEO: "You must learn French!"

[marylander1940]

Air Canada CEO hires private tutor to learn French after 'insulting' comment leads to language uproar | CTV News

“I pledge today to improve my French, an official language of Canada and the common language of Quebec, while tackling the serious commercial challenges facing Air Canada as we move from surviving the pandemic to rebuilding to normalcy,” Rousseau said in a statement. “I reiterate Air Canada’s commitment to show respect for French and, as a leader, I will set the tone.”

OP note: has he tarnished the company's brand? How many Americans would learn another language to keep their job?

[Luv2play]

1 hour ago, marylander1940 said:

Air Canada CEO hires private tutor to learn French after 'insulting' comment leads to language uproar | CTV News

“I pledge today to improve my French, an official language of Canada and the common language of Quebec, while tackling the serious commercial challenges facing Air Canada as we move from surviving the pandemic to rebuilding to normalcy,” Rousseau said in a statement. “I reiterate Air Canada’s commitment to show respect for French and, as a leader, I will set the tone.”

OP note: has he tarnished the company's brand? How many Americans would learn another language to keep their job?

 

[Luv2play]

I find it strange that the CEO of Air Canada has been able to remain in his job for 14 years and not speak French. As one who worked in the government as a diplomat, I was required to learn French sufficiently to get by at work. My French was never perfect but even today I can carry on a conversation. When I was working I had to be able to function at a relatively high level.

I have no sympathy for this guy.

[lonely_john]

On the other coast, if you wanna do business you have to learn Mandarin 😑

[cany10011]

Je m’en fiche! However, he should have learned some French or at least working knowledge of it. My country bumpkin cousine learned French and mastered it in Montreal after living there after 2 years. 

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by cany10011

[mike carey]

5 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

OP note: has he tarnished the company's brand? How many Americans would learn another language to keep their job?

It's an interesting question, but I don't think there is any real comparison unless English was the 'another language' they had to learn. For an English speaker there are few jobs in the US or Australia where speaking another language is necessary, either practically or as a matter of policy. As has been noted already, that is not the case in Canada where federal employees are required to be able to conduct business in both English and French. Air Canada may not require proficiency in French (I'm surprised it apparently does not), but for a big national company that needs to deal with the federal government to have a CEO not able to conduct business with them if the officials they were with chose to speak French is inconceivable. As to whether he has tarnished the company's brand, I suspect he it's his own brand rather than the airline's that he's tarnished (except to the extent that allowing him to get away with being monolingual for so long did so).

[CuriousByNature]

This is ridiculous.  I'm all for people learning new languages, but in no way should Trudeau be telling the CEO of a private company that he needs to learn french.  AirCanada is not a department or agency of the government, nor is it owned by the government.  It has been a private company for more than 30 years and is responsible to its shareholders, not to the political elites.  The government owns about 6% of the company and Trudeau has no right to compel the CEO to learn another language.  The only place in Canada that is officially bilingual is New Brunswick.  And if memory serves, Quebec, which is overwhelmingly francophone, even has laws that restrict the use of english rather than encouraging its population to be bilingual.  It is true that there are likely more francophones who can speak english than there are anglophones who can speak french, but this whole situation only serves to show that once again Canadian politicians are missing the target on determining what is important.  Rather than focusing on urgent matters like pandemic recovery, Canada's leader is concentrating on a matter that means very little to the majority of Canadians.

[rvwnsd]

13 minutes ago, mike carey said:

It's an interesting question, but I don't think there is any real comparison unless English was the 'another language' they had to learn. For an English speaker there are few jobs in the US or Australia where speaking another language is necessary, either practically or as a matter of policy....

Until very recently, foreign-owned banks in the US were used as a stop on the rotational training program for up-and-coming executives back in the home country. In my former employer's case, many of our executives were Japanese expats. Until the late 2000's, many struggled with English. I heard an expat BBVA USA* executive speak at a conference and could barely understand him. Over time, as senior execs became expected to speak directly with regulators and the media their proficiency in English improved. 

* BBVA USA was owned at the time by BBVA, a bank based in Spain.  

[CuriousByNature]

9 minutes ago, mike carey said:

It's an interesting question, but I don't think there is any real comparison unless English was the 'another language' they had to learn. For an English speaker there are few jobs in the US or Australia where speaking another language is necessary, either practically or as a matter of policy. As has been noted already, that is not the case in Canada where federal employees are required to be able to conduct business in both English and French. Air Canada may not require proficiency in French (I'm surprised it apparently does not), but for a big national company that needs to deal with the federal government to have a CEO not able to conduct business with them if the officials they were with chose to speak French is inconceivable. As to whether he has tarnished the company's brand, I suspect he it's his own brand rather than the airline's that he's tarnished (except to the extent that allowing him to get away with being monolingual for so long did so).

One thing to point out - many jobs in the Canadian government do not require bilingualism.  An uncle of mine worked for many years as a federal employee in Saskatchewan and never needed to learn french.  Apparently positions in Ottawa, Quebec and New Brunswick often require a degree of fluency in both languages, but most parts of Canada require fluency in english only.  I imagine the higher level positions anywhere will have a higher likelihood of french requirements, and not having a solid understanding of the language could be career-limiting.  But my uncle was making a very good salary of more than 120K per year when he retired, and french was not a requirement for his position.

 

[mike carey]

4 minutes ago, rvwnsd said:

Until very recently, foreign-owned banks in the US were used as a stop on the rotational training program for up-and-coming executives back in the home country. In my former employer's case, many of our executives were Japanese expats. Until the late 2000's, many struggled with English. I heard an expat BBVA USA* executive speak at a conference and could barely understand him. Over time, as senior execs became expected to speak directly with regulators and the media their proficiency in English improved. 

* BBVA USA was owned at the time by BBVA, a bank based in Spain.  

That a good example of the point I was making about 'another language' being English as an exception. Do you know of these banks required their US employees to learn the language of the bank's home country for rotations there?

I take your point @CuriousByNatureabout lower level employees and those in Anglophone provinces. (I have to wonder in front-line Border Services Agency staff, even in prairie provinces, can manage without French. I realise the answer may be different for someone on the land border with North Dakota than at the international airport in Winnipeg or Calgary [or even Regina].)

[CuriousByNature]

2 minutes ago, mike carey said:

That a good example of the point I was making about 'another language' being English as an exception. Do you know of these banks required their US employees to learn the language of the bank's home country for rotations there?

I take your point @CuriousByNatureabout lower level employees and those in Anglophone provinces. (I have to wonder in front-line Border Services Agency staff, even in prairie provinces, can manage without French. I realise the answer may be different for someone on the land border with North Dakota than at the international airport in Winnipeg or Calgary [or even Regina].)

That's a good question.  I wouldn't be surprised if someone on each shift needs to have some degree of french proficiency, since a person can ask to be dealt with in either language in theory.

 

[BSR]

1 hour ago, CuriousByNature said:

This is ridiculous.  I'm all for people learning new languages, but in no way should Trudeau be telling the CEO of a private company that he needs to learn french.  AirCanada is not a department or agency of the government, nor is it owned by the government.  It has been a private company for more than 30 years and is responsible to its shareholders, not to the political elites.  The government owns about 6% of the company and Trudeau has no right to compel the CEO to learn another language.  The only place in Canada that is officially bilingual is New Brunswick.  And if memory serves, Quebec, which is overwhelmingly francophone, even has laws that restrict the use of english rather than encouraging its population to be bilingual.  It is true that there are likely more francophones who can speak english than there are anglophones who can speak french, but this whole situation only serves to show that once again Canadian politicians are missing the target on determining what is important.  Rather than focusing on urgent matters like pandemic recovery, Canada's leader is concentrating on a matter that means very little to the majority of Canadians.

This comes off as sanctimonious virtue-signaling from Trudeau.  I'll never forget the impossibly smug look on Trudeau's face when he corrected someone that the proper word was "peoplekind," which oh by the way isn't a real word ("humankind" is, but not "peoplekind")

If the monolingual Air Canada CEO has gotten by just fine for 14 years without knowing French, then it obviously isn't necessary for his job.  And if it's not necessary, he shouldn't be forced to learn it, just as prancing blackface boy can't force people to use "peoplekind."

[alrajee]

7 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

OP note: has he tarnished the company's brand? How many Americans would learn another language to keep their job?

If my company will foot the bill for lessons, absolutely. I wouldn't pass up on the chance to add another language in my box of skills.

(If I have to pay for lessons out of my own pocket, I wouldn't.)

I don't necessarily think he tarnished the brand, although his quite-condescending remark that he doesn't need to speak French, while delivering his speech in Quebec, leaves a really bad taste.

[Guest]

Many critique Americans for not being at least bilingual.   Unlike other countries/continents, the fact is that I rarely encounter other languages in my daily life and I’d have to take a long trip to go somewhere where I would.    I offer this observation with no arrogance…I’d love to learn another language, but I don’t have the need.   As CEO of a company serving an officially bilingual country, he should have been hyper sensitive to the issue without any prompting from the ever overreaching Trudeau. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by BnaC

[Luv2play]

5 hours ago, CuriousByNature said:

This is ridiculous.  I'm all for people learning new languages, but in no way should Trudeau be telling the CEO of a private company that he needs to learn french.  AirCanada is not a department or agency of the government, nor is it owned by the government.  It has been a private company for more than 30 years and is responsible to its shareholders, not to the political elites.  The government owns about 6% of the company and Trudeau has no right to compel the CEO to learn another language.  The only place in Canada that is officially bilingual is New Brunswick.  And if memory serves, Quebec, which is overwhelmingly francophone, even has laws that restrict the use of english rather than encouraging its population to be bilingual.  It is true that there are likely more francophones who can speak english than there are anglophones who can speak french, but this whole situation only serves to show that once again Canadian politicians are missing the target on determining what is important.  Rather than focusing on urgent matters like pandemic recovery, Canada's leader is concentrating on a matter that means very little to the majority of Canadians.

Actually bilingualism is the official policy for all federal institutions across Canada so it applies everywhere in that sense.

And national unity has always been and will continue to be THE top priority of any federal government when it comes right down to it, although many Canadians ignore it except when the s**t hits the fan, as it did in 1995 with the referendum that almost went the wrong way and could have led to the fracture of the country.

For historically minded people, there was a strong annexation movement in Canada when it was struggling to remain independent of the United States but that suffered a grievous blow when the Americans had their civil war. The feeling became, who would want to join that mess.

It's interesting to note that where the English language is threatened in the US, they have moved to make English the official language. So it seems when push comes to shove, they are acting just like Quebec has done for their French language 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Luv2play

[marylander1940]

4 hours ago, BnaC said:

Many critique Americans for not being at least bilingual.   Unlike other countries/continents, the fact is that I rarely encounter other languages in my daily life and I’d have to take a long trip to go somewhere where I would.    I offer this observation with no arrogance…I’d love to learn another language, but I don’t have the need.   As CEO of a company serving an officially bilingual country, he should have been hyper sensitive to the issue without any prompting from the ever overreaching Trudeau. 

It's always a good exercise for a person's brain to be able to speak another language.

You would be amazed how simple English verbs are compared to Spanish, French and even German.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, marylander1940 said:

It's always a good exercise for a person's brain to be able to speak another language.

You would be amazed how simple English verbs are compared to Spanish, French and even German.

I don’t doubt any of that and embrace the “idea” of learning a new language - if  I do, likely French.   However, without the time to pursue new multilingual relationships, the exercise would likely not stick with conversational capability.  

[Rudynate]

12 hours ago, Luv2play said:

If there was enough at stake, even a pig-headed American would at least make an attempt.  I learn languages easily, so I've never understood why people find it so difficult.

[+ WilliamM]

2 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

It's always a good exercise for a person's brain to be able to speak another language.

You would be amazed how simple English verbs are compared to Spanish, French and even German.

I had five years of French in highschool and college. Torture, hardly exercise. Switched over to history, where the French helped for research. And I no longer had to speak French 

[+ tassojunior]

But air communications are all in English. Let's not interject French/Quebecois there or half the pilots will be putting down others' accents as they crash planes.

My French teacher was a Quebecer to the dismay of everyone I spoke to in Paris. They said calling Quebecois French was like calling Poutine French cuisine. For a year studying there everyone made me shift to English instead of "that" accent.  

[alrajee]

3 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

It's always a good exercise for a person's brain to be able to speak another language.

You would be amazed how simple English verbs are compared to Spanish, French and even German.

Although I agree, I do find that for anything to stick, you have to use the language organically i.e. it has to feel like it's part of your daily life.

Spanish is an easy language to progress with here in the United States, but French and German are a different matter. (Of course, in big cities this point is moot.)

[Luv2play]

5 hours ago, Rudynate said:

18 hours ago, Luv2play said:

If there was enough at stake, even a pig-headed American would at least make an attempt.  I learn languages easily, so I've never understood why people find it so difficult.

I did not write this.

[+ Charlie]

Before English became the common international language in the 20th century, international relations were normally conducted in French wherever Europeans or those of European ancestry were dominant, regardless of the native language of the speakers. One of the main reasons why Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were the prominent citizens usually chosen for diplomatic missions to Europe was because they were among the few leading Americans who could speak passable French. (Franklin taught himself French as a young man.) Few Americans then would have imagined that the most common second language in the US in the 21st century would turn out to be Spanish (Franklin thought it would probably be German).

[Luv2play]

54 minutes ago, Charlie said:

Before English became the common international language in the 20th century, international relations were normally conducted in French wherever Europeans or those of European ancestry were dominant, regardless of the native language of the speakers. One of the main reasons why Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were the prominent citizens usually chosen for diplomatic missions to Europe was because they were among the few leading Americans who could speak passable French. (Franklin taught himself French as a young man.) Few Americans then would have imagined that the most common second language in the US in the 21st century would turn out to be Spanish (Franklin thought it would probably be German).

Franklin spent the winter of 1775/76 in Montreal where he conversed with the locals in French and concluded they were not interested in joining with the American Revolution to liberate themselves from the British.

At the end of the 18th century, Germans were the third largest ethnic group in the US. This was many decades before the Irish, Russians, Polish, and other European races emigrated to America.

[+ azdr0710]

I once was in Montreal and, in an effort to be polite, dutifully asked, "bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?" each time I needed to interact with a local......answers ranged across the scale, but the best was, "yeah, I'm from Toronto, wadaya want?"

.....just wanted to throw in my contribution before this thread is relegated to the depths of the politics subforum......