A few days following Canadian National, it was Air Canada’s turn to submit to Bill 96 on the protection of French.
The company announced “its voluntary registration with the Quebec Office of the French language under the Charter of the French language, following several months of discussions with the Office”, in a brief press release issued Monday.
The air carrier is following in the footsteps of the national railway company, which took the same decision last Thursday.
The two companies were in a special situation, being subject to the Official Languages Act of Canada, by virtue of its constituting statute.
However, Bill 96 adopted by Quebec to strengthen Bill 101 on French now obliges federally chartered companies to adopt francization measures.
Last November Air Canada declared that it was already constrained by federal legislation “to ensure the daily application of its linguistic obligations”. The Canadian carrier also said it wanted “a uniform and coherent regime” so that its linguistic obligations are shared with all the airlines.
Air Canada theoretically had until December 1 to comply and was called to order, as was CN.
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Thus, the discussions of the last few months have borne fruit, and the company now says it is “proud of its commitment to the French language in Quebec and throughout its global network.”
“The additional gesture that the Company is making today reflects its desire to contribute to the protection, promotion and influence of the French language,” the statement said.
In a message posted on social networks, the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, welcomed the company’s decision to register for the francization process.
“On this International Francophonie Day, I am delighted to see Air Canada join the OQLF francization process. I salute this gesture made by a major company with its head office in Montreal. All together for French!” he wrote.
In recent years, the airline had found itself embroiled in various linguistic controversies, the most striking of which was, without a doubt, the assumed unilingualism of its president and chief executive officer, Michael Rousseau.
The latter had caused an outcry in Quebec in 2021 by claiming that he had lived only in English since he had settled in Montreal regarding fifteen years earlier. He then had to apologize and promised to learn French.
