When front-line staff at Air Canada must serve in both languages, HR and directors should ensure bilingualism is non-negotiable for the CEO
Back in high school, I was enrolled in “French extension,” meaning half my classes were taken in French. I graduated with a certificate in bilingualism and that skill helped me get a summer job in government because it was a requirement.
Since then, my proficiency has faded for lack of use, but I can still converse in French on a basic level — and if a really appealing job was presented to me today, requiring bilingualism, I would happily enrol in a course to update my skills.
So, how has the now-retiring CEO of Air Canada managed to attain and maintain his position as head of the largest airline in Canada — with headquarters in Montreal since 1949 — without being able to speak French?
Hired in February 2021, Michael Rousseau has had five long years to improve his language skills, and yet in a time of grief — after two young Canadian pilots were killed and 41 passengers were injured when their plane crashed into a firetruck at LaGuardia airport — he spoke only in English, aside from a token “Bonjour” and “Merci.”
One of the pilots was also a francophone from Quebec, but Rousseau’s video condolences quickly overshadowed the tragedy because of his insistence on speaking English only.
Wanted: bilingual-only applicants
Further proof of this failure of leadership? Air Canada requires employees to be able to offer its services in both official languages. The airline even has a “Dialogue Award” to recognize employees who “promote bilingualism and consistently deliver on our commitment to official languages while fostering a collaborative and inclusive workplace.”
It makes you wonder how a unilingual CEO like Rousseau was hired in the first place. Given the company’s strong focus on bilingualism and presence in Quebec — which has reinforced French as the sole official and common language in the province, particularly in business, public services, and workplaces — to allow this key requirement to slip by is highly questionable.
On that point, Prime Minister Mark Carney recently said it’s “essential” that the next CEO of Air Canada be bilingual, according to CBC.
"That should have gone without saying to begin with, but recent events have underscored that."
How many job candidates look at the list of requirements for a job and decide they can’t apply because they lack the skills or experience? That’s often true for positions that mandate bilingualism in Canada.
And yet somehow Rousseau was considered so integral to leading the airline that this skillset was forgotten?
That suggests a certain weakness on the part of the board and those in charge of executive recruitment, in identifying an appropriate successor for Air Canada back in 2021.
For HR and boards, bilingualism should sit alongside industry experience and financial acumen in the CEO job profile — not as a “nice to have” left to chance.
Take Rousseau’s predecessor, Calin Rovinescu, who was raised in Montreal and educated at the University of Montreal, so he spoke French fluently while serving as CEO of Air Canada from 2009 to 2021.
Wanted: French language training
Also notable: over five years as CEO, Rousseau apparently made no improvement on his linguistic skills — despite living in Montreal for nearly 20 years.
And the language situation did not improve even after backlash back in 2021 when Rousseau gave a 26-minute speech before a business crowd in Montreal, devoting only 20 seconds to French.
When pressed by a journalist, he said that despite living in Quebec for 14 years, he's too busy running a company to learn French.
"I've been able to live in Montreal without speaking French, and I think that's a testament to the city of Montreal," said Rousseau, according to the CBC.
Again, why did the board or HR leaders not mandate intensive language development while Rousseau was on the job?
Not everybody will agree that Canada should still have two official languages, given the proliferation of several other languages over the decades. But if it’s a key requirement of the job, there are no excuses — especially for our leaders.
