“Both his wife and mother speak French, and in 2021 Rousseau came under fire for giving a high-profile speech in Quebec only in English”

“He responded to reporters at the time that he had been living in Montreal for 14 years and called it a 'testament to the city' that he didn’t need to learn French”

“He also said at the time that his schedule did not allow him time to take French courses, but promised to do so, and had reportedly spent 300 hours studying the language before his video statement last week where he used only two words of it”

“By 27 March, the office of the commissioner of official languages said it had received more than 2,000 complaints”

“In Quebec, where politicians have taken legislative steps to protect a language they fear is under threat by anglophones, lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a motion calling for Rousseau to step down”

“The executive’s inability to string together even a handful of rehearsed sentences in French also prompted disbelief online”

“‘The Air Canada CEO has lived in Montréal for decades, and he knows less French than a literal POLAR BEAR,’ posted one user, referring to a bear that was recently moved from a zoo in Quebec to a facility in Calgary, where staff said a French-speaking trainer had accompanied the bear to help it adjust to his new settings”