Carney criticizes Air Canada CEO’s English-only condolence after deadly New York crash

Prime Minister Mark Carney says an English-only condolence message from Michael Rousseau following a fatal crash in New York lacked compassion, as scrutiny grows over language obligations at federally regulated companies.

Rousseau, the CEO of Air Canada, is being summoned to testify before the House of Commons official languages committee after posting a four-minute video message that included only two French words. According to federal officials, the video prompted dozens of complaints to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

The crash occurred Sunday evening at LaGuardia Airport, where an Air Canada Jazz flight collided with a fire truck on the runway while landing. Two pilots, identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, were killed. Forest was a French-speaking Quebecer.

Carney said the federal government continues to work with U.S. authorities to determine the cause of the collision. He did not provide further details on the investigation timeline.

The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages said it had received 84 complaints about the CEO’s video as of Tuesday afternoon, raising questions about compliance with Canada’s official languages framework in federally regulated sectors.