Air Canada CEO Faces Backlash Over French Skills

0:00It's March 25th. Welcome in. This is Toronto News Today, where local news meets AI. I'm Corey with the story. Air Canada's CEO, Michael Russo, is basing fresh backlash over his limited French skills after a tragic plane crash. On Sunday, an air-Canada flight from Montreal crashed at La Guardia Airport in New York, killing two pilots including a Quebecer. Russo responded with a video message that used just two French words, Bonjour, and Merci, while the rest was in English with subtitles added. This isn't the first time. Russo took the top job in February 2021 after years at the Montreal headquarters, but he admitted he didn't speak French. He promised Quebec Premier France while ago he'd learned it, and the airline has reported his ongoing lessons to shareholders since then. Public outrage has been building for years. Back in November 2021, he gave mostly English speech to Montreal business leaders, then quip that living there 14 years without. French proved the city's openness.

1:00That sparked over 1,000 complaints and protests. A year later, he struggled through a federal committee hearing, switching to English under questioning. Now politicians are piling on. La Gault call for his resignation, Prime Minister Mark Carney criticized a lack of compassion and the federal official languages committee has voted. To summon Russo again to Ottawa for tough questions. Still far, his crash response has drawn nearly 800 complaints to the language commissioner. Air Canada defends him, saying his French isn't ready for such a sensitive message. Critics like Quebec's employment minister argue he's had plenty of time and shows no real effort. With the summons looming, pressure on Russo to step up or step aside keeps mounting.