All Canadian leaders, including corporate bosses, should speak both official languages of English and French, the country's foreign minister said Thursday, after the Air Canada CEO failed to issue a condolence message in French for a fatal airport disaster.
Two pilots were killed in the deadly collision late Sunday between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport.
According to media reports, one of the pilots killed was from French-speaking Quebec.
But in the video message to express condolences, Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau used only English, sparking controversy.
"Canada is a bilingual country," Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told AFP on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers meeting in France, repeating the same phrase in French: "Le Canada est un pays bilingue."
"And we continue to advocate for the leaders of our country to be able to speak both official languages, including in the corporate sector," she added.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier criticised the CEO's conduct saying he was "very disappointed, as others are, rightly so, in this unilingual message".
It showed a "lack of judgement and a lack of compassion", Carney said.
Rousseau issued an apology on Thursday, saying he was "saddened" that his limited French "has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families".
"Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French. I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve," Rousseau said in a statement.
Anand expressed "deep condolences to the families of the two pilots whose lives were lost".
"Every single day I wake up and think about their loss of life and how sad their families and friends of their communities must feel and I am grieving with them," she said.
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