Question Period Note: Air Canada's compliance with the Official Languages Act

The Commissioner of Official Languages tabled his 2022-2023 Annual Report on Official Languages in Parliament on May 30, 2023. In his report, he notably points out that the number of complaints related to services in French and English offered to the travelling public is still on the rise at Air Canada, among others.

• I welcome with great interest the Commissioner of Official Languages’ 2022-2023 Annual Report, and our government will carefully examine its recommendations.
• Bill C-13 proposes a range of legislative changes to address implementation issues, including Air Canada's compliance with the Official Languages Act to provide fully bilingual services to its customers.
• The Commissioner of Official Languages would have expanded powers to better enforce the Act, including the power to issue administrative monetary penalties for certain federal institutions subject to the Act and serving the travelling public.

• The Commissioner of Official Languages (COL) tabled his 2022-2023 Annual Report on Official Languages in Parliament on May 30, 2023. In his report, he notably points out that the number of complaints related to services offered to the travelling public in French and English is still on the rise in 2022-2023, as reflected in several of his previous reports. In addition, the Commissioner notes systemic issues of recognition of linguistic obligations by airport authorities.
• Again this year, Air Canada received the highest number of admissible complaints (276), 99% of which concerned Part IV of the Official Languages Act (OLA). In addition, 77 complaints related to airport authorities. In all, over a 10-year period, 5635 complaints were lodged regarding service to the travelling public.
o Recommendation 1: for the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Transport, develop tools and guidelines related to the language obligations of airport authorities and share them with the airport authorities by March 31, 2024; for the Minister of Transport, require airport authorities to submit a plan on how they will fulfill their language obligations to the public by June 30, 2025.
• On March 20, 2023, Air Canada announced its voluntary registration with the Office québécois de la langue française in accordance with the Charter of the French Language. The press release issued by the company states: "The additional step taken today by the Company reflects its desire to contribute to the protection, promotion and influence of the French language, in compliance with the Official Languages Act that applies to the carrier.” Air Canada's announcement comes on the heels of the same decision made by Canadian National, another federally regulated company also headquartered in Montreal.
• Mr. Michael Rousseau was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada in February 2021. Mr. Rousseau's decision to give his first major speech, on November 3, 2021, to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal in English only, not only shocked political actors, but also generated over 2,000 complaints to the COL, a record. The COL contacted Air Canada to remind the Montreal company's senior management that "bilingualism is a crucial skill for any leader, particularly those in institutions subject to the OLA," as is the case for Air Canada.
o According to a preliminary report by the COL, the complaints alleging that the CEO's speech to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal last November did not comply with the OLA are well founded.
• Air Canada is governed by, among others, the Air Canada Public Participation Act which was enacted in 1985. In 2016, an Order designated the Minister of Transport with the application of this law. Section 10(1) states that the OLA applies to Air Canada, and section 10(2) states that “the Corporation shall ensure that air services, including incidental services, are provided or made available by a subsidiary of the Corporation, the Corporation has the duty to ensure that any of the subsidiary’s customers can communicate with the subsidiary in respect of those services, and obtain those services from the subsidiary, in either official language”.
• Air Canada’s obligations in terms of services to the public fall under Part IV of the OLA and its Official Languages Regulations - Communications with the public and provision of services (Regulations) for which the President of the Treasury Board is responsible. The Regulations define the circumstances under which a federal office must communicate with the public and offer them services in French, in English, or in both official languages. Following extensive consultations, the amended Regulations were registered on June 25, 2019. The 2019 Regulations include several substantial amendments, including one that ensures that airports and stations subject to the OLA that are located in provincial or territorial capitals, as well as the federal offices located at these airports, are automatically designated bilingual.
• According to Air Canada, the demand for services in the official minority language on many of its routes is well below the five 5% threshold. Air Canada offers services in both official languages on 85 domestic routes and 161 international routes. Those represent 60 % of the air carrier’s routes where services must be bilingual. This proportion compares to 34% of all 11,300 federal offices, under the umbrella of some 200 federal institutions, in Canada and abroad.
• In 2017, Air Canada confirmed that it was able to assign bilingual staff to all the flights it operates directly, whether they are on high demand or not. The applicable collective agreement also provides for a minimum number of bilingual employees on all flights, depending on the type of aircraft. This assignment rule gives priority to bilingual employees for obtaining routes, going beyond the seniority rule.
• On March 1st, 2022, the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, accompanied by her colleagues, Minister of Justice and President of the Treasury Board tabled Bill C-13 which provides for, among other things, a strengthening of the COL’s powers. Specifically, the COL will see an improvement in his ability to intervene by adding new powers, including the power to impose administrative monetary penalties on certain privatized entities and Crown corporations that are currently subject to the Act in the area of transportation serving the travelling public.

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