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dude@lemmings.world

Air Canada's CEO to retire following post-crash language spat (www.upi.com)

submitted 2 days ago by dude@lemmings.world to c/news@lemmings.world

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[–] undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I’m multilingual and all for people speaking multiple languages, especially here where the CEO could’ve spoken both languages.

I do however think this is incredibly petty. I have to agree with former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney that I’d rather have the CEO focused on safety rather than language lessons.

At some point we need to stop being outraged at such childish issues: why is this even an issue? The actual accident and the (lack of) safety procedures should take precedence.

[–] ebc@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's such an issue because that same guy was at the heart of a similar scandal a few years ago and vowed to do better and learn French. Evidently, he not only didn't learn French, he didn't learn how important it was to his job. Putting out an English-only message when one of the killed pilots was a francophone is very insensitive.

[–] undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Putting out an English-only message when one of the killed pilots was a francophone is very insensitive.

Oh, please. I guess everyone at my workplace who doesn’t speak Spanish is an asshole too then since we also employ people that speak it as their first language. 🙄

I’m sorry, I just can’t get on board with this level of thinking.

[–] ebc@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

There's a broader context here:

Air Canada used to be part of the government of Canada (which has 2 official languages).
It was privatized, but part of the agreement was that it continues being subject to the law on official languages (legally, it has to offer ALL its services in both official languages)
That dude bragged about never learning French while living in Montreal for many years (this was the original scandal I alluded to)

This is the specific context around Air Canada, but within Canada as a whole, languages is a touchy subject. I won't make you a history lesson, but us French Canadians take this VERY seriously.

And I'm pretty sure if one of your hispanophones colleagues died ON THE JOB, somebody would at least say one sentence to their family in their native language, even if badly-pronounced. That's just basic decency. This guy couldn't even be bothered.