A bilingual Air Canada business class passenger is taking his outrage to the media after discovering that the flight attendant on his flight couldn’t communicate with him in his preferred language…
In this post:
Bilingual Air Canada passenger insulted by English
Canada is a bilingual country, and there are laws requiring English and French to be given equal prominence, including in many aspects of business. This is the subject of a recent controversy involving an Air Canada flight.
On March 21, 2023, a man named Jean-Pierre Beaudoin was traveling with his wife in Air Canada business class from Quebec City (YQB) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). The main claims to be bilingual, but prefers to speak in French.
According to the traveler, the service director who was also working business class greeted the passenger in English upon boarding. He informed her that he wanted to be spoken to in French, but the service director indicated that she didn’t speak French.
At this point the service director brought over a flight attendant who spoke French to explain this to him. However, the man didn’t need this translated, but rather he just wanted to be spoken to in French, per his rights.
The service director then reportedly explained that she would be working business class, and if he wasn’t okay with being communicated to in English, he could take another flight. The man repeated that he wanted to take this flight and be served in French.
The man claims that someone then boarded the plane to once again explain to him that his options were to either communicate in English or leave the plane. The man decided to stay on the plane, and was exclusively communicated to in English, but he decided to exclusively speak to the service director in French (even though she seemingly didn’t understand that?).
The traveler explains that it’s a “matter of principle,” and that he was “boiling inside” and “outraged.” The man was hoping that other passengers would stand up in his defense, but they reportedly didn’t.
Upon completing his trip, he didn’t file a complaint with Air Canada, because he didn’t trust their complaint handling process, but rather he filed a complaint with the office that oversees language requirements in Canada.
Air Canada issued the following statement regarding this incident:
“With respect to this particular flight, we can confirm that two of the three flight attendants assigned to the flight were able to speak and understand French. As a result, service was available and provided in both official languages. In this regard, it is a falsehood to claim that the only solution was to ask him to leave the aircraft since the French-speaking staff members were able and available to service Mr. Beaudoin in French.”
“According to the information we received, the Service Director offered Mr. Beaudoin the option of boarding another flight if he was not satisfied with the service provided, and he decided to remain on board.”
As you can see, the passenger and the airline have different perspectives on the situation. Air Canada claims that service was provided in both languages, since two of the three flight attendants spoke French, while the passenger claims that this wasn’t offered.
My take on this Air Canada language incident
There are two things at play here — what actually happened in this specific situation, and then the principle of the matter.
Let’s start with the actual logistics of this situation:
- If two of the three flight attendants spoke French, and if they knew that it was very important to the guy, then you’d think they could have had a flight attendant come up once in a while from economy to check on him, communicate with him in French, etc.
- We’ve seen multiple cases over the years where Air Canada was sued for violating the linguistics rights of Canadians, so you’d think the crew would’ve tried to minimize this situation, recognizing the possibility of that outcome
- This is where the difference in claims comes into play — did the service director really refuse to have anyone speak with him in French throughout the flight, or was he just mad that the service director kept working in business class, despite not speaking his preferred language?
This is understandably a challenge for the airline. Not all flight attendants speak French, yet the airline needs to be able to serve all passengers in French. A vast majority of bilingual people are flexible in this regard, but then you have some people like this guy.
What’s my take on the principle of the matter? Well, I mean, the guy is within his rights to act this way, and that is the law in Canada. Similarly, in the United States we have people bringing guns to Chipotle because they can, and to “protect” their rights.
Do I find it a bit ridiculous to be so principled? Yes, sort of. More broadly I recognize that French-speaking Canadians feel unfairly treated, when their language is just as official as English, but it often doesn’t feel that way. Personally I wouldn’t be so principled, but to each their own…
Bottom line
A bilingual Air Canada business class passenger is outraged, and claims that a crew refused to communicate with him in French. Canada’s laws require customers to be provided service in their preferred language, and this man wanted to be communicated to in French. The man claims he was told that he could take another flight if he wasn’t happy with this arrangement.
Air Canada, meanwhile, claims that two of the three flight attendants spoke French, and that the man was offered service in French.
What do you make of this Air Canada language situation?
French people have such an awful attitude. I work in hospitality in Ontario and they are never nice and feel entitled when they visit. I have had experiences where they spoke English but choose not to (it’s normal for them to behave this way) I think we should have let them separate themselves from Canada when they wanted to.
French people have such an awful attitude. I work in hospitality in Ontario and they are never nice and feel entitled when they visit. I have had experiences where they spoke English but choose not to (it’s normal for them to behave this way) I think we should have let them separate themselves from Canada when they wanted to.
People in Quebec are just entitled and think they are better than every other Canadian. He chose to be an a**hole to the attendants. He understood English perfectly fine. The fact that he didn’t want to complain to the airline shows that he’s probably done it before. because of people like him it is difficult to find good jobs in Ontario, especially Ottawa. Companies don’t want to get sued so they typically give the jobs...
People in Quebec are just entitled and think they are better than every other Canadian. He chose to be an a**hole to the attendants. He understood English perfectly fine. The fact that he didn’t want to complain to the airline shows that he’s probably done it before. because of people like him it is difficult to find good jobs in Ontario, especially Ottawa. Companies don’t want to get sued so they typically give the jobs to bilingual candidates (even though they say equal consideration) the government needs to do something (make French immersion, mandatory in all of Canada for kids) because it’s not fair to Other people living in different provinces where English is the primary language. What about the Native languages? What about catering to all the native people?
I personally feel for the guy. He is paying top dollar (I assume) for a crappy seat on a crappy Rouge flight from his home town. In fairness though, he IS going to the USA, and a part where in a matter of hours the only language he will encounter is Spanish. We live in a global world, and once in a while we should all learn to be a little flexible.
just another small man tirade, trying to manage his small-man syndrome. (probably a bully, too, like most small men). we've seen this movie before...more pathetic each time around...it's little men like this classless intellectual hillbilly that create anti-quebequois sentiment in Canada. Canadians dont have anything against Quebecois per se, and we DONT expect quebeckers to speak to us in OUR first language, nor do we feel obliged to speak a word of French anywhere we...
just another small man tirade, trying to manage his small-man syndrome. (probably a bully, too, like most small men). we've seen this movie before...more pathetic each time around...it's little men like this classless intellectual hillbilly that create anti-quebequois sentiment in Canada. Canadians dont have anything against Quebecois per se, and we DONT expect quebeckers to speak to us in OUR first language, nor do we feel obliged to speak a word of French anywhere we may travel in the country...we have THAT right. If some locations/situations render a scarcity or absence of English-speakers, we understand that, and deal with it, just as if we were travelling internationally...(not to imply there is any kind on "internationality" about the MQGA Quebecois....parochial dimwits like this toddler, and the tone-deaf old men still pushing for separation, are anything but "international").
Probably the root-cause of this anglo-french disconnect is the roman/napoleonic (another small-man) civil code that forms Quebec's legal system, where ancient and now-hideously outdated edicts laid down by some uneducated European centuries ago still finds application, if not relevance, in 21st-century Canada. But for the rest of Canada that uses common- (case)-law, the precedents are more modern, flexible, and reasonable...everything this little republican maggot isn't. As plato told us, the State taketh the man. (bon chance, Quebec!)
This is not a minor matter, and I can understand why so many Québécois are repeatedly frustrated at their language being constantly disregarded--so much so that it drives many to political separatist nationalism.
Air Canada is the national flag carrier of a country with two co-equal official languages, so every employee ought to be equally conversant in both. Or, at the very least, every employee working within Québec or on any flight bound to or...
This is not a minor matter, and I can understand why so many Québécois are repeatedly frustrated at their language being constantly disregarded--so much so that it drives many to political separatist nationalism.
Air Canada is the national flag carrier of a country with two co-equal official languages, so every employee ought to be equally conversant in both. Or, at the very least, every employee working within Québec or on any flight bound to or originating from the overwhelmingly francophone province of Québec (as this flight did) should be required to be bilingual in both English and French--no ifs, ands, or buts.
This passenger paid for a business class seat from Québec and deserves the dignified respect of being addressed in his own co-official language that he understandably feels more at ease with for communication, languages having nuances and idioms that don't always literally translate well.
Perhaps personnel scheduling issues precluded a francophone business class service manager from being on-board, but it isn't appropriate that any business class service manager should be monolingually English for a flight originating in Québec City!
This is not some petty assertion of rights on par with a gun-toting customer at Chipotle. This is about a national flag carrier of a country with two co-equal official languages who had a service manager who spoke only one, in service to a cabin class with far more customer service interaction--and not the language of the vast majority of the population from which the flight originated.
This is absolutely parallel to being told that one can take a bus, but only if seated in the rear with others because of one's race--or else wait for a different bus. That's essentially what this passenger was told in terms of options--and yet he paid for a business class ticket! He was told that he had to interact in another language than his official own or else take another flight.
Many Québécois have to live with the daily defeatist expectation of having to function in English for communication because many of their fellow Canadians haven't learned French, so it just keeps francophone Canadians at a continuous second-class status--little different from the overly sensitive, adaptive way with which many people of colour have to cautiously interact with law enforcement compared to many White folks.
All these commenters from English hegemony privilege saying it's no big deal and much ado over nothing are disgustingly arrogant. How would an American feel in business class on a domestic carrier flight if a service manager could speak only in Spanish? It might not rise to a rights issue, Spanish not having any official language status in the USA (nor does English, for that matter), but it would be frustrating and certainly give one qualms to struggle in communication as a business class passenger, even if one knew some Spanish.
Air Canada is completely in the wrong here and deserves every shame for its customer service failure in this regard. If you work for a national flag carrier in a country with two official languages, you should be expected to be fluent enough to converse with customers in either language, and customers should be able to be served by staff who can address them in either language, and most especially in premium cabin classes.
I totally agree. I am a flight attendant and a qualified French-speaker.
The flight attendant working that business class cabin should have been able to speak French. If not, she should have switched positions with one of the two flight attendants working in the other cabin.
Air Canada is required by the Official Languages Act to comply with a customer's request to be served in French.
It made no sense to have both French-speakers in...
I totally agree. I am a flight attendant and a qualified French-speaker.
The flight attendant working that business class cabin should have been able to speak French. If not, she should have switched positions with one of the two flight attendants working in the other cabin.
Air Canada is required by the Official Languages Act to comply with a customer's request to be served in French.
It made no sense to have both French-speakers in the other cabin.
I hope the passenger is successful with the complaint he has filed. In my opinion, his rights were violated.
The man is just being difficult. He is choosing to go to going to Florida where he will have to speak English for his entire vacation. I would be very curious to know if he has a winter home down there like many people from Quebec do.
When I visit Quebec I have often great difficulty communicating in English but manage. How come the roles are not reversed regarding the use of English in Quebec? Last I heard it is part of canada !
I sometimes wonder if people actually read of the artciel before mouthing off.
try re-reading it and looking at your comment once again
Ridiculous and bigoted. For the record, the International language for Air Traffic Control is English.
such an unhelpful comment to add to the discussion
It is all political. Canada is run by Quebec people. And all the politicians are a** kissers and crooks.
I used not to understand Canadian French. I worked at LHR, speak reasonable French learned in Switzerland and France?
As a bilingual French Canadian, let me give my opinion…the passenger was legally within his rights but behaved like a jerk. On Canada’s official airline, he should be able to communicate in French. I suspect the two French speaking flight attendants were happy to occasionally check in with him, but they were very busy. Three flight attendants for a whole flight, I bet they were rushed off their feet.
It seems the passenger also...
As a bilingual French Canadian, let me give my opinion…the passenger was legally within his rights but behaved like a jerk. On Canada’s official airline, he should be able to communicate in French. I suspect the two French speaking flight attendants were happy to occasionally check in with him, but they were very busy. Three flight attendants for a whole flight, I bet they were rushed off their feet.
It seems the passenger also was bilingual but refused to speak English to be kind and considerate of the staffing limitations. He seemed to desire to make a big deal out of this by who he complained to (not the airline).
Flight attendants have a tough job and if a passenger cannot be respectful, kind or considerate to them, it speaks to the passenger’s character flaws, not issues with the airline.
From my experience French is actually not spoken in Canada, and especially in Quebec. It sounds more like French after a serious car crash. Certainly in France, Canadian French speakers are regarded with some amusement at the ruination they can wreak on what the rest of the world understands as French (and to top it off, in Quebec they think it classy to make fondue with Mozzarella cheese and cider, so the Swiss French have...
From my experience French is actually not spoken in Canada, and especially in Quebec. It sounds more like French after a serious car crash. Certainly in France, Canadian French speakers are regarded with some amusement at the ruination they can wreak on what the rest of the world understands as French (and to top it off, in Quebec they think it classy to make fondue with Mozzarella cheese and cider, so the Swiss French have a good giggle as well). A French friend creased himself with laughter at an Air Canada in flight announcement in full Québécois French, saying French in France has certainly moved on from the 1608 version spoken in Canada.
There are variations within France as well. It can be very difficult to understand what prople are saying in the northern part.
Likewise, it can be very difficult to understand American English in the southern United States.
Mr. Beaudoin is courageous to publicly press his rights knowing full well that taking such a stand will provoke a mob of Quebec bashers. I'm sure that Mr. Beaudoin understands exactly what Canadians truly meant when they collectively shouted "We Love You, Quebec" back in the day...
Lucky at his best - "bring guns to Chipotle" :))
I had a much less serious, yet quirky moment when I took my mother to Hong Kong and we flew HU through Beijing.
She was so excited that she was flying Hainan Airlines, you know, the airline from Hainan Island! We have an incredibly distinct Chinese dialect called Hainanese (my ancestors are from there) and so she was asking random people from fellow pax to staff, from YYZ all the way to HKG to see...
I had a much less serious, yet quirky moment when I took my mother to Hong Kong and we flew HU through Beijing.
She was so excited that she was flying Hainan Airlines, you know, the airline from Hainan Island! We have an incredibly distinct Chinese dialect called Hainanese (my ancestors are from there) and so she was asking random people from fellow pax to staff, from YYZ all the way to HKG to see if anyone spoke Hainanese.
No one did. We didn't care. But it was cute. Hainanese is a very unique dialect.
Would say he was a different sort..
Was he going to act this way when he arrived in the States. Most French persons would be versitil, This dude apparently had a chip on his shoulder. Bunch of friggen drama not worth putting in printin English or French
I think the problem lies in understanding that French immersion schools are also at a small percentage across Canada. I think if the government truly wanted a bilingual country all our schools would be mandatory French immersion from K-12 and so forth into post secondary. If people are not expected to learn this from a young age or given the opportunity, (as a-lot of the only French immersion schools also have waitlists due to a...
I think the problem lies in understanding that French immersion schools are also at a small percentage across Canada. I think if the government truly wanted a bilingual country all our schools would be mandatory French immersion from K-12 and so forth into post secondary. If people are not expected to learn this from a young age or given the opportunity, (as a-lot of the only French immersion schools also have waitlists due to a minimum number of these schools), then the government is creating these minor disputes as we see in this story. I do not think it’s fair that those who speak French get angry at others who don’t when it’s not there fault. I don’t thinks it’s fair to discriminate the frontline staff or a company based on language and be penalized for it. I thinks it’s really unfair The company is made to discriminate between English speaking Canadians and only choose people who speak French or multilingual to work for them leaving out a huge percentage of unilingual Canadians who would love to work in the industry, if they could.
However, I feel if we made this country strictly bilingual, it would be hard for immigration (which we need) for others to live here when they need to learn French on top of trying to learn English.
A job working for Air Canada is a privilege. It should be a prerequisite that candidates for the cabin staff job speak both languages, even if not fluently. Not unreasonable.
"Do I find it a bit ridiculous to be so principled? Yes, sort of. More broadly I recognize that French-speaking Canadians feel unfairly treated, when their language is just as official as English, but it often doesn’t feel that way. Personally I wouldn’t be so principled, but to each their own…"
- Said from someone who speaks the dominant language of the country he resides.
Agree with the comments but I also agree...
"Do I find it a bit ridiculous to be so principled? Yes, sort of. More broadly I recognize that French-speaking Canadians feel unfairly treated, when their language is just as official as English, but it often doesn’t feel that way. Personally I wouldn’t be so principled, but to each their own…"
- Said from someone who speaks the dominant language of the country he resides.
Agree with the comments but I also agree they should have done something to service him. It is also within his rights not to change flights.
As a Canadian with neither English nor French as my mother tongue, if I'm on an airplane or in a Canadian airport outside of Quebec and you've pissed me off -- and I know you only speak English, I will only speak in French and I will demand for service in French. Likewise, if I'm interacting with a francophone or I'm in an airplane or at an airport in Quebec -- and I know you...
As a Canadian with neither English nor French as my mother tongue, if I'm on an airplane or in a Canadian airport outside of Quebec and you've pissed me off -- and I know you only speak English, I will only speak in French and I will demand for service in French. Likewise, if I'm interacting with a francophone or I'm in an airplane or at an airport in Quebec -- and I know you speak only French or prefer to speak French and you've pissed me off, you bet I will demand for service in English.
Why? To prove the point that we should all be treated with courtesy and respect -- and sometimes changing the person you are dealing with helps, and I make that clear.
But more importantly, the point is, unless one was there during the interaction, one has no clue what exactly played out and how. The pax could be lying, the FA could be lying, or they both could be lying!
I'm a Canadian living in Switzerland where roughly 70% of the population is German-speaking and 28% French-speaking.
I don't think such an incident would hapeen on Swiss Airlines for the following reasons:
1. Swiss French are more reasonable and pragmatic and puerile stands such as the one recounted here would not be accepted.
2. Swiss Germans, as the majority, most often make an effort to learn French (in the interest of national...
I'm a Canadian living in Switzerland where roughly 70% of the population is German-speaking and 28% French-speaking.
I don't think such an incident would hapeen on Swiss Airlines for the following reasons:
1. Swiss French are more reasonable and pragmatic and puerile stands such as the one recounted here would not be accepted.
2. Swiss Germans, as the majority, most often make an effort to learn French (in the interest of national unity) and would certainbly never exhibit the virulent and strident "speak English or else" almost racist prejudices evident in many comments here. In summary they are also reasonable, pragmatic and polite.
Personnellement je ne prend plus d'autre compagnie que air france (je suis francais), rien que pour cette raison. La moitié des compagnie ne parle pas francais meme au départ de Paris. Je trouve cela inadmissible, lorsque l'on sait que dans les avions au départ de la france, il y a 80% de francais dans l'appareil, et que meme pas 8% des francais sont bilingues.
This makes me NOT want to learn French. And that's no joke.
I doubt you could speak to save your life. so status quo?
Suck it up buttercup. more important thing to worry about duh
Says you making such an informative comment
Offer him a seat in economy class where he would have two flight attendants speak French. Maybe Mr. Bedhead could speak proper French , not their own version Québécois
I‘m really surprised to hear that a senior cabin crew of AC serving a flight out of YQB doesn‘t even speak a little French. Except perhaps Vancouver or Calgary based crews I think everyone at AC speaks a little French.
Just another slimy Frenchman!!
To quote Patton I’d rather have the Germans backing me than the French !
Just for Franchise. Information for air traffic control purposes all language must be English spoken no matter what country you were in. As long as they had a French speaking person on that aircraft that’s all that should matter.
not sure the point of said comment
Does AC have 2 or 3 classes of service? If 2, IMHO, one of the 2 French speaking FA's should have been assigned to BC. Or did the English only FA believe that she was too good for economy class?
Please tell the customer to go use another airlines like United or Air Emirates or BOAC and demand they have French service him - they would laugh as I am here. Spoiled babies need to be taught lessons no matter what age. Please provide two bits of advice: 1. An airline is not a restaurant- it is a way to get u from point A to point B - anything else such as meals, languages...
Please tell the customer to go use another airlines like United or Air Emirates or BOAC and demand they have French service him - they would laugh as I am here. Spoiled babies need to be taught lessons no matter what age. Please provide two bits of advice: 1. An airline is not a restaurant- it is a way to get u from point A to point B - anything else such as meals, languages spoken and more are luxuries they should say thanks for and not make an issue with if and when the food sucks ; and 2. This is just one more example of todays’s society being me me me me and me - he should be put on the no fly list for a year and see how he likes driving or taking the bus next time.
wow completely missing the point of the article... bravo
He is just a trouble maker angry that an English person dared to offer him service in English. I believe that the air line did offer him service in French. I have personally witnessed attendants get another person to speak French and even Chinese when a passenger could nor speak English. I does not make sense that they would refuse French service when 2/3 of the attendants spoke French. He was just angry that they...
He is just a trouble maker angry that an English person dared to offer him service in English. I believe that the air line did offer him service in French. I have personally witnessed attendants get another person to speak French and even Chinese when a passenger could nor speak English. I does not make sense that they would refuse French service when 2/3 of the attendants spoke French. He was just angry that they would not change the attendant assignments per his liking.
Quebec is a pathetic place and the french are the most pretentious, entitled, condescending bunch of scum. Let’s have another referendum and get rid of them. You losers can have all the signage you want then.
People like this should be up against the wall. Business class pompous dick.
inciting violence against a minority. good job! why dont you man up and post your real info
Interesting to know that the pilots are required to speak only in clear English under international aviation law when communicating with ATC, Ground Control etc.
The French crack me up - so self righteous - genuinely no one cares.
international aviation law is regarding the pilots. how is this related to the article?
you seem to care enough to post
The flight attendant in Business should have switched to economy but was too lazy as it’s more work.
Another angry principled individual looking for the free ride.
free ride how?
I guess MLK was principled, rosa parks was pricipled...
so much vitriol here....
history repeats
Pathetic
Wish Quebec would sever itself from Canada and let them get on with it.
Who is the head of state for Canada is it King Charles III or the president of France!
You got it all backwards.
As quebec was one of the founding provinces of canada and when france seceed the land to england many acts were passed to keep the french language in place.
if basic courtesy french is too hard. maybe it's time anglo provinces become states.
Quebec Privilege. Sorry guys, it's simply a fact that English is the global language and the USD is the global currency (>90% of global trade). Canada is fortunate to border the greatest nation this side of heaven.
You're right.. Denmark is indeed the greatest nation we border.
Next is France and maybe Russia...
Was there another one?
Strange reply by a strange person from a dependent country. It's ok though - you're like America's little bastard stepchild. It's so sad.
awww butt hurt we didn't praise trumpland?
irrelevant to the article
The greatest nation? Yawn.
Just to annoy the anglophones who think that everyone should speak a common language like English...
Quelle connerie. Le type se conduit comme un trou du cul. La ligne d'avion est stupide pour imager qu'un vol en provenance de Montréal peut avoir un équipage de cabine qui n'est pas 100% francophone. Oops, je devrais dire québecophone.
Try talking English in Quebec. You are just bunch of hypocrites who pretend to be “bilingual” when you are outside of Quebec, while your government practically does everything it can to ban English in Quebec. Canada should end this bilingualism nonsense asap.
Clearly to haven't been to QC.
Most people can speak basic English.
Most people in Canada cannot speak basic French.
So about that hypocrite argument. Have to looked in the mirror?
Any unilgual person in Canada has the right to be served in either language in a government enterprise.
For the people claiming the Quebecois are cry babies and selfish you clearly don't understand the bilingual nature of the country and what makes us non united states.
It is a nationwide right despite the comparatively smaller number of french speakers.
If you still disagree then by your logic a minority group despite being...
Any unilgual person in Canada has the right to be served in either language in a government enterprise.
For the people claiming the Quebecois are cry babies and selfish you clearly don't understand the bilingual nature of the country and what makes us non united states.
It is a nationwide right despite the comparatively smaller number of french speakers.
If you still disagree then by your logic a minority group despite being legally protected should have less rights.
How very un Canadian.
Air Canada isn't a government enterprise.
It isn't a nationwide right.
spoken in true uniligual fashion.
Air Canada is a government run organization. Thus it has to provide the public facing service in both languages.
The charter of rights would beg to differ with you as stipulated in the first article.
No one cares. I wish you losers had won the vote to leave the country so we never have to deal with you again. F&$@ Quebec and all the french babies.
Spoken like a true bigot.
irrelevant to the article
The irony is… many of us natives from France, actually think Quebec French should be re-named to Québécois instead of “French” because truth be told, we understand you better in English
Anyone who holds up a plane for selfish reasons is holding a plane full of people hostage and should be de-planed
What would be the case of Pilot/Senior Flight Attendant said in English ... "We have an Emergency ....... " would the preferred French-speaking passenger ignore the announcement .. and demand it be delivered in French.. or simply accept the fact his survival was potentially in the poo, and follow the English direction.. ? ....Sometimes you need to accept your cirmustances when your principle wont hold ground.
Yeah yeah…
And women should accept to be paid 70% of a man’s salary.
Black should accept to stay on the back of the bus.
Gays should accept to not be services in bakeries
Native should accept to be confined to reserves.
Everyone should accept their place in society:
Well said bother!
I'm so tired of Quebec and their hissy fits around language. If you are bilingual then just make things easy on everyone and speak your second language on your flight to anglophone Florida.
Leave the two French speaking attendants for those who aren't bilingual and just recognize the world doesn't revolve around such petty nonsense.
what if he was uniligual french from france? then what?
Let's all be thankful he didn't order a 7-up or shit would have really hit the fan.
My wife up to recently a flight attendant with WestJet. She is now with a different carrier, I have often said to her I would not want to be the person that schedules the FAs. They pickup, drop , swap schedules like crazy. Every airline does. While AC might schedule a French speaker for the flight it does not mean that one assigned will be the one that works it.
When she departed Toronto the...
My wife up to recently a flight attendant with WestJet. She is now with a different carrier, I have often said to her I would not want to be the person that schedules the FAs. They pickup, drop , swap schedules like crazy. Every airline does. While AC might schedule a French speaker for the flight it does not mean that one assigned will be the one that works it.
When she departed Toronto the announcements were in English then French, landing announcements arriving into Montreal are French then English.
My wife from Winnipeg has a beautiful French name, her first language is French however she always says " I am a Canadian that speaks French not a French Canadian"
Even as an anglophone Canadian, I am surprised to read the very "un-Canadian" attitude in the comments by others. Which is sadly the fact that when it comes to this topic, many anglophones take exception and fail to see the francophone perspective. It is untrue as some claim that francophones are only in QC and NB. I'd invite more Canadians to travel to more of Canada. In fact, not far north from Toronto the primarily...
Even as an anglophone Canadian, I am surprised to read the very "un-Canadian" attitude in the comments by others. Which is sadly the fact that when it comes to this topic, many anglophones take exception and fail to see the francophone perspective. It is untrue as some claim that francophones are only in QC and NB. I'd invite more Canadians to travel to more of Canada. In fact, not far north from Toronto the primarily language spoken in Ontario is French. I know this because that's where we have spent every summer at friend's cottages for decades. Back to this case, however, there is no doubt in my mind that the crew made an error and this was potentially supported by a management decision by crew planning or a local in flight manager. (I work in the airline industry). The flight departed Quebec City and the majority of crews based in QC and Montreal are francophone. In fact many based in Toronto actually commute from Quebec. Perhaps this Service Director is one who is actually based in Toronto or elsewhere. In rostering this crew member, AC took on the risk of facing this problem. That is their busienss decision and their liability risk. And they had the responsibility to remedy it. There were multiple options.
1) The Service Director could have been swapped out to another flight. Asking the passenger to swap out is ridiculous because the legal burden is on the airline.
2) the Service Director could and really should have worked economy and swapped with one of the French speakers to serve business. This was the absolute most logical solution. It may not have been possible because being spring and ramp up to the high leisure travel season, it's possible that the two crew in eco were not as well trained for business class service and working alone. Although in general AC crews are very well trained. So this should not have been a problem.
3) the third option would have been to ask the customer if he would be satisfied that the crew member from the back would check in periodically with him. And as a result he would receive superior service to all others in business class because he would have two crew servicing him. And thus, the legal requirement would have been exceeded. This would have also shown him that the crew respected him. Often that is all passengers need. Instead, this crew chose to escalate and buckle down to their incorrect position, perhaps because they wege instructed to do so.
The reality is that union rules, the collective bargaining agreement, decisions by crew planning who aren't on board, by managers at the airport who aren't on board etc could all have played into this. None of that excuses the fact that AC had at least three reasonable remedies to deescalate. While it is easy for us all to comment on the passenger and his approach, such comments are irrelevant because he has an equal right to anglophones. Canada would be much richer if it celebrated two cultures and languages (in the way most of the world wrongly thinks it does), rather than anglophones constantly belittling the language, culture and needs of francophones. As an anglophone, I believe we (amd future generations) would be richer if we were all bilingual and we showed respect for our fellow Canadians. Beaudoin is a prominent family name in Quebec. Mr Beaudoin surely could have tolerated mistreatment. But why should he be expected to? Can we imagine flying on AC and all crew spoke only french and asked us to change flights if we asked for service in english? No we can't. Why should anyone be demanded the reverse? It is supremely critical that airline staff demonstrate they are conscious of and compliant of laws. Because their entire industry is highly regulated and the performance of their jobs is contingent on adherence to laws. An attitude to choosing which laws to follow and which not to follow is a dangerous road to go down.
A thoughtful and interesting response, thanks. Agree given the legal requirements the company and crew seem to have made some poor decisions.
This is not the first time that this jerk makes a scene on the language!
First world problem. Time to change the law. Cul intitulé.
Passenger was too stubborn, or too elegant.
This case was not as a matter of life. He must be so anti English.
Why he was heading to Florida where is English speaking place.
My native language is Japanese, but I do not care which language F/A speaks as long as I understand. This passenger has no idea why F/A are on board.
They are not passengers' servant.
They are there...
Passenger was too stubborn, or too elegant.
This case was not as a matter of life. He must be so anti English.
Why he was heading to Florida where is English speaking place.
My native language is Japanese, but I do not care which language F/A speaks as long as I understand. This passenger has no idea why F/A are on board.
They are not passengers' servant.
They are there for their safety first.
Typical French speaking person's
elegant attitude.
French is not only language on earth
ugh...
Not a matter of life so automatically it must be anti English. That's a stretch...
Your native language is not one of the official Languages of Canada so that is not a valid argument.
Wether this passenger has or doesnt' have an idea of why F/A's are on board is also irrelevant. The operating carrier is goverment owned and thus follows national rules. there is a choice on board for serice in english...
ugh...
Not a matter of life so automatically it must be anti English. That's a stretch...
Your native language is not one of the official Languages of Canada so that is not a valid argument.
Wether this passenger has or doesnt' have an idea of why F/A's are on board is also irrelevant. The operating carrier is goverment owned and thus follows national rules. there is a choice on board for serice in english or french.
French is not the only language on earth... nor is English.
However French is the majority language from is departure city in a mainly french speaking province.
次にそのようなコメントをする場合は、もう少し考えてください。日本の教育には批判的思考が欠けていますが、あなたの主張にもっと努力を注いでください。
Yin Dao Yan....sorry I mean 'Alex LeBoooof' clearly has no life. Alex, you really need to get laid. It'll do wonders for you. If you can't find someone willing, then 'self-help' is your answer. Get a warm towel and use your hand and imagination. And don't forget to close the door! Afterwards, wash your hands and dispose of the towel. No need to thank me.
Irrelevant to article hate inciting. Good job. You must not be a true Canadian.
WHY SHOULD WE QUOTE A FORCED FRENCH LANGUAGE KEEP IT IN QUEBEC ONLY
keep the monolingual anglos out of canada then
You should go and try to be an anglophone in Quebec. While they force rest of Canada to be bilingual, Quebec is anything but. Indeed, they are doing everything they can to ban English in Quebec. So this bilingualism nonsense applies only to rest of Canada I their minds.
Uni lingual tourists can get by fine. Most people in Quebec can speak basic English. Can the same be said elsewhere?
Canada is not bilingual. As you mention going to QC as a monolingual.
Ummm. How about no? People like you are an overwhelming minority, and you’re lucky the rest of us accommodate your constant whining. There’s precisely ONE province where there are a substantial number of monolingual french, and the rest of the country is predominantly English.
We’re far more likely to get rid of Quebec (I really hope we do). Be thankful the overwhelming majority puts up with your tantrums. You offer nothing to the rest...
Ummm. How about no? People like you are an overwhelming minority, and you’re lucky the rest of us accommodate your constant whining. There’s precisely ONE province where there are a substantial number of monolingual french, and the rest of the country is predominantly English.
We’re far more likely to get rid of Quebec (I really hope we do). Be thankful the overwhelming majority puts up with your tantrums. You offer nothing to the rest of us and we mostly despise and mock you.
That's is the founding principles of Canada.
It is easy to mock out of ignorance.
Your logic. You're a minority. Let's get rid of you.
Check your lineage.
Also French predate English on the continent if you like idiotic arguments.
Clearly you've never been out of your town.
You need to get educated as to why the situation is the way it is.
Once again it's not about having a productive discussion. It's about remove the minorities. Congrats on showing the thread your nature.
It's funny this Alex LeBlanc guy has to defend French in English. Hahaha
Because you english speakers understand french? do you see the point you've made.
so little effort to learn it, then complain that someone asked for the service that's offered by the company.
this whole kerfulffle is in large part to anglo-canadians not speaking functional french to save their lives. which is fine if you don't work in a company nor a position that may require it.
Some Quebecers make a big deal out of nothing. The flight attendant has rights too. Shove the "principle" up ... if you understand my English.
What rights does the flight attendant has? To work above the law in quebec?
Right on John. Although it is his " right " to be served in French he seems " prickly " . I live in Quebec and am often confronted with service that cannot or will not speak English. I usually just shrug and go along with it although I do make a lot of purchases in either Ontario or the US due to this type of customer service in Quebec.
I'm an English speaking Canadian. The rights of Canadians who only speak English are constantly abused in Quebec. Have been treated very poorly when in Quebec when trying to communicate and mo longer have any desire to go there.
Canada is a bilingual country.
Quebec is a unilingual french province, New-Brunswick is a bilingual province and all other province are unilingual English province.
@Alex Leblanc = Yin Dao Yan 2.0
More judging huh? True canadians lollll
Canada is not bilingual. French is the legislated language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is officially bilingual. The entire rest of the country speaks English and whatever foreign tongues have been imported by immigrants. This man is a baby, who got the correct treatment
First, ac broke the law, the fine they will get will also be deserved.
National anthem. Just saying... canada is not bilingual, its true, a french person cannot get service in french in non french provinces. Its just hypocrit that way...Quebec and nb almost only places... some of ottawa..
But again, national anthem...
French first, translated to english.
There is such a thing as a french culture in quebec, it is...
First, ac broke the law, the fine they will get will also be deserved.
National anthem. Just saying... canada is not bilingual, its true, a french person cannot get service in french in non french provinces. Its just hypocrit that way...Quebec and nb almost only places... some of ottawa..
But again, national anthem...
French first, translated to english.
There is such a thing as a french culture in quebec, it is 20% of canada, that is 1/5th.. and there is the canadian culture also in quebec, its not one or the other. Quebec is bilingual, you cannot hold a job in montreal if you only speak french or english. My 10yo daughter is fluent in both, goes to french school. Explain that one to me, i live in a very french northern village and it has still english high school and preschools on top of the french ones... st pattys parade.. canada day stuff.
Legally, this country has 2 official languages. One is 20% of it all. Its a big chunk... but always belittled by the 80%, like you just did.
Thus the french fighting for their due respect. The guy was bilingual, the attendant was not. One made the effort, the other, like 80% of canada, did not.
Good for your daughter Alex. Bilingual or multilingualis the way to go but the reality is French is for French people and English is for everyone. Global language and all.
That said AC could have had an attendant from economy serve this jerk.
What about : get a life ?
How about get a rosetta stone course and learn french?
Maybe you can stop shoving french down our throats.
How is that someone wanting to be served in French in Quebec City shoving French in your throat.
People with differences trying to just exist is too much for you ?
Seriously?
Pretty sure it was the other way around
Alex, I don't speak French and since your English is good so I don't need to learn French. You guys only bully English speaking businesses in Montreal. Come to Toronto and demand to be served in French.
Yeah, my english is awesome. Thanks, thats on a GED from a french family going to french school. Yall hate we try to uphold our french pride and deny our culture like you just did. All we do is what again? Im from mtl and got enough free anglo anti quebec hate from west islsnders i dont need to be told who does what and who disrespects and bullies who. French people dont go around...
Yeah, my english is awesome. Thanks, thats on a GED from a french family going to french school. Yall hate we try to uphold our french pride and deny our culture like you just did. All we do is what again? Im from mtl and got enough free anglo anti quebec hate from west islsnders i dont need to be told who does what and who disrespects and bullies who. French people dont go around beating up anglos for fun on canada day... but on the st jean.. French people dont go to toronto and demand french, we are not that disrespectful.. we dont ask the rest of the country who takes pride in being a bilingual country to be bilingual, yall can hypocrit and discriminate without our help. Youre better, youre english.
When i go to Montreal as a life long Canadian from Ontario i get dirty looks all the time for using English - so sorry no sympathy here
Most people have better things to do than learn French. Like maybe learn a useful language like Spanish or Mandarin or Hindi.
This guy has nothing to do but cry! What does he do when he goes to Tim Hortons and they don’t speak French? Does he pull a baby tantrum?! What is the work coming to. You are on a 2.5hr flight what could you absolutely need, besides coffee and treats! This is petty real petty! What does he do when he goes to another country? Does he complain to the gouvernement over there also? Give...
This guy has nothing to do but cry! What does he do when he goes to Tim Hortons and they don’t speak French? Does he pull a baby tantrum?! What is the work coming to. You are on a 2.5hr flight what could you absolutely need, besides coffee and treats! This is petty real petty! What does he do when he goes to another country? Does he complain to the gouvernement over there also? Give me a break !! People like this deserve a kick in the ass and wake up, the world does not stop for you! And I’m glad nobody stud up for him cause he is a JERK!
He booked his flight in french. Paid in french, registered in french. He expected the service to also be in french since thats how he dealt with AC since the start. You know how he gets coffee? In english because he is bilingual as most quebec people are these days. How does this bother you either way?
The guy was bilingual, he made the effort to learn, attendant did not, air canada did not...
He booked his flight in french. Paid in french, registered in french. He expected the service to also be in french since thats how he dealt with AC since the start. You know how he gets coffee? In english because he is bilingual as most quebec people are these days. How does this bother you either way?
The guy was bilingual, he made the effort to learn, attendant did not, air canada did not give the shift to someone who did, its insulting on many levels. To be fair, guy publicly came with the story after the flight, this isnt some toronto drunk karen getting put in her place video. Its something that will see air canada get fined for, and a wakeup call french citizens are not second class and anglos can dismiss us whenever they want to better fill their work schedules. French people died for canada, as much as the english did, it is shameful the backlash is just some racist rant from other canadians who should support this so rights of everyone are respected in the country. Being served in french was a lawful right, not just a milkbone and a pat on the head.
Alex, French people need English a heck of a lot more than English people need French. French is for talking with French people. It is really not useful for anything else like business, internet, science, health or traveling to other countries.
that is completely besides the point.
AC is gov. Gov is bilingual.
Canada is biligual in theory, in Canada you need to learn french, if you don't speak it you are not really a canadian... more of a statesian...
As a francophone I feel embarrassed by this incident. It should have never been an issue, I speak multiple languages and look forward to speaking to anyone in their native tongue or mine. The guy needs to get over himself. This is so overblown it’s ridiculous.
But hey I’m obviously not so principled as he thinks he is. Or is he just another A-hole just trying to disguise his stripes.
r/AsABlackMan
If this is what he is "outraged" about, he should be very thankful and grateful for the life he has! Seriously...
My wife and I took a Gullet Cruise (ex Turkish fishing boat) from Split Croatia for a week. Because we are Canadian the tour organizer matched us up with 12 other passengers from France (because obviously all Canadians speak French).
The 12 refused to speak any English even though some had spent 10 or more years in LA. I asked them to speak lentement as my Parisienne high school French was ok at a slow...
My wife and I took a Gullet Cruise (ex Turkish fishing boat) from Split Croatia for a week. Because we are Canadian the tour organizer matched us up with 12 other passengers from France (because obviously all Canadians speak French).
The 12 refused to speak any English even though some had spent 10 or more years in LA. I asked them to speak lentement as my Parisienne high school French was ok at a slow pace but that went nowhere.
Until the day we were shipwrecked. All of a sudden everyone spoke English.
In quebec, a group of 20 people will speak english if only one person does not speak french.
Want some of my french quebec english entitled people stories? I guarantee you the flip side isnt as golden.
You mean the 12 persons from France didn’t bow to the 2 Canadian anglophones?
How dared they not know their place and pleased their superiors ?
As a native Quebecois, I think this guy is an arrogant prick. I'm no fan of Quebec and their entitlement. Life is about adaptiing and it works both ways. Btw FLL is an English speaking city. Why is he going there if French is of such importance. Yes I get it, trust me. But people like this annoy me.
Does the bi-lingual requirement apply to the cockpit as well? Like, conversations between French-Canadian pilots and Canadian ATC? The tower?
How about the airport indicators, like should runway "33L" be also painted with "33G" for them? Heck, that's not even done in France!
Exactly!
I copied this answer from "Quota" It somewhat answers your question
All ICAO-designated "International" Airports must conduct ATC radio transmissions in English. Some minor variances are allowed;
If no international flights are under their control, air communications may be transmitted in the nation's mother tongue.
Airspace not used by international flights (I.e. Non-TCA)
However, if an aircraft is transmitting in English anywhere in the world, ATC must comply in English. Theoretically, so...
I copied this answer from "Quota" It somewhat answers your question
All ICAO-designated "International" Airports must conduct ATC radio transmissions in English. Some minor variances are allowed;
If no international flights are under their control, air communications may be transmitted in the nation's mother tongue.
Airspace not used by international flights (I.e. Non-TCA)
However, if an aircraft is transmitting in English anywhere in the world, ATC must comply in English. Theoretically, so must all aircraft in the vicinity. In many countries, this is not enforced, including in Class E airspace in Canada in the province of Quebec. Other countries known to allow non-English communications include;
Russia and surrounding countries
France
Germany
Italy
There are probably other European countries that also allow this practice. Africa has so many unimproved fields that are considered "airports" that radio transmissions can be in French, English and local the language. It's an eclectic continent!
In Central America, English is used. I'm not sure about regional South American airports.
completely irrelevant
EVERY country in the world uses English in the aviation industry. Even Airbus aircraft which are made in France have English directions / caution signs on the wings written in English.
The complainant was in business class. That should say it all. Some Quebecers are more "entitled" than others and like to use their "rights" to belittle working people who are not bilingual enough for them. OK, so it was a service manager, so she/he was a manager but I still feel it was an elitist move by the passenger. I worked in the transportation industry outside of Quebec, and spoke French when required. I was once criticized for my Montreal accent.
Some quebecers? Can you be a little bit more racist please? Like change quebec to black see how you sound...
Google or youtube will show 1000 english people going nuts on planes and air staff before you find one from quebec.
Cheap shot at best. Karen is not a french name.
Call him a culturalist if you want, the Quebecers are not a race, as many of the newer ones are white, although most are from French and Indian background, starting in the 1600s . Are you saying all Quebecers are Metis?
No. Im not. Its still blatant discrimination and "you peopleism". Its still sick, its still contrary to what we teach our children, canadian values, bad morals, and my culture is triggered by his comments because im a frog.
Also, black is not a race, in america its a culture. Its still racism.
French canadian is therefore comparable, in the manner it is attacked in his statement.
Hows my english btw?
It's not "you people" - it's just YOU. And people like you ie @$$holes.
And black is clearly a race.
Some quebecers? you mean some people in biz class? or just people in general.
may have been elitist... maybe not. you weren't there.
The fact is he wanted to be served in French which is his right to ask and an opion that tha tnational carrier AC has.
This whole discussion is an old rivalry between France and the United Kingdom from centuries ago, imported to Canada. However, English is the world language now. Francophones must understand that they lost the "lingua franca" status a long time ago. It is done, England won. Swallow it. My mother tongue is Portuguese and I don't care if it dies. In fact I hope it does, so we can all speak the same language everywhere. I...
This whole discussion is an old rivalry between France and the United Kingdom from centuries ago, imported to Canada. However, English is the world language now. Francophones must understand that they lost the "lingua franca" status a long time ago. It is done, England won. Swallow it. My mother tongue is Portuguese and I don't care if it dies. In fact I hope it does, so we can all speak the same language everywhere. I don't need a set of words to keep my "identity". Especially if this identity is being an entitled arrogant prick. If you need laws to protect a language, you can't protect a language. People don't use it for a reason. It is a bad language. Désolé.
Alright, then lets make portugal english then, they lost too if english is the language of world.
Better one, lets tell the french that, they lost but must have not gotten the memo... haiti?
Or tell the ukrainians to speak russian from now on, why the hell not!
Tell tell tell .. keep telling me my french culture and your french national anthem are so outdated we should scrap em, and ill...
Alright, then lets make portugal english then, they lost too if english is the language of world.
Better one, lets tell the french that, they lost but must have not gotten the memo... haiti?
Or tell the ukrainians to speak russian from now on, why the hell not!
Tell tell tell .. keep telling me my french culture and your french national anthem are so outdated we should scrap em, and ill reply to you etouffe toi avec ta poutine trou de cul. See? Thats why we protect our language, from that racist english view telling us over and over we are less than trash. Go to hell. Thsts why there is no love, our supposed countrymen want us gone and erased. My french ancestors fought ww1 and ww2, in french, for canada.
Canadas national anthem is in french.
No matter how much english would climax over cancel quebec culture, sorry bud but wont happen in your lifetime.
Bravo Mateus!
there are laws to protect the language from the american onslaught.
Take french from france which is borrowing heavily from english at the moment yet they are not surrounded by english.
Quebec is surrounded by english and narrow minded anti-french sentiments such as the one above.
I agree totally with Mr. Baudoin.
Why?? Look at what happened in Louisiana to the French Acadians and their French language.
Look at what les modi Anglais did to the Acadians long before they arrived in Louisiana. You Anglos would be screeching like stuck cochons if another language would be replacing your racist English.
Since Quebec law has now made English in Quebec illegal you don't have much of an argument.
Vous Quebecois have a double standard. Speak ONLY FRENCH in QUEBEC, but you MUST speak FRENCH to me in the rest of the country.
Hypocrisy at it's finest.
You also have a double standard as only english speakers in a country supposedly bilingual, take pride in being an inclusive country with acceptance values, take pride in bilingualism, but wanna cancel us **your own** for wanting to be as we are already... our own fellow countrymen want us gone instead of supporting us in upholding a language part of the country's culture and history... like the fact our national anthem is french should hint...
You also have a double standard as only english speakers in a country supposedly bilingual, take pride in being an inclusive country with acceptance values, take pride in bilingualism, but wanna cancel us **your own** for wanting to be as we are already... our own fellow countrymen want us gone instead of supporting us in upholding a language part of the country's culture and history... like the fact our national anthem is french should hint yall to the fact we also matter in history!! what the hell does all that even change in your life quebec wants to keep going to school and work in french ALSO?? besides feeling cheap for not learning it ?? I learned english, so what? I still am proud of my little french village and my kids going to their little french school, like it or not, quebec is just... french. Quebec didnt make english illegal, it made it illegal to not be also french, or like in the flight case,
a whatever thing... which was discriminating to french only speakers. Big difference and this is exactly why this was changed IN THE LAST YEAR, because if we make it second, like its always been, thats what happens, we get treated like it doesnt matter and its our problem and we are calked names, second class etc.. everything non french speakers love to do. We are all citizens of canada, we talk about minorities rights this and that, but when its french its funny how yall can call us all sorts of names and belittle us like that.
keep going, maybe one day there will be french shirts forced upon sports teams and stuff for us too.
In the meantime, if you aint bilingual, how can you even claim to know anything about french quebec? Thats hypocrisy to another level, and yes, racist.
Lol. Hard to believe English is illegal in Quebec. Try pulling another one out. . .
And I saw a comment that Quebec French was not real French like Parisienne French. . Lol. Surprise, there are different French dialects in France and throughout the world. And of course, the English spoken in Canada is THE original and only English . .lol.
Seriously lyn, i so agree. Im french, love everything english, and feel that constant hate everytime we want to ensure equality in the workplace or something.
Here is the real reality in quebec, you cannot get a job if you only speak french, or only english. Now that is a big fat lie because in montreal its english only more than often and in regions french only. That doesnt mean the culture is only...
Seriously lyn, i so agree. Im french, love everything english, and feel that constant hate everytime we want to ensure equality in the workplace or something.
Here is the real reality in quebec, you cannot get a job if you only speak french, or only english. Now that is a big fat lie because in montreal its english only more than often and in regions french only. That doesnt mean the culture is only one or the other, we have the real picture here and the rest of canada gets cbc english picture only. We are blessed with both realities, rest of canada is just... not. And clearly ignorant about our lives in french communities (who always make efforts to speak english with a smile when needed, the nice canadian way).
People talking about the separatist movement, the what??? ask anyone under 40 and fat chance they will tell you its part of quebecs past as much as voting for women.
Anti french hate will die way before french quebec culture dies, and it started because in english canada, frenchies used to be discriminated against like in this thread.
You said it Azamaraal!!
Got news for you Lin, English ight be replaced in the next 20 years by either Mandarin, Hindi or Arabic bbut it won't be French.
well you'll have a hard time wont you DONDON....
Last year Canada accepted 1.1 million immigrants and I bet less than half of them speak English. What are their language requirements? Most Quebecers speak English as it is the Global language of business. Will the Quebec passenger demand to be spoken in French in Ft. Lauderdale? Definitely not but in Canada the very small number of self centered Quebecers demand that all other Canadians speak their language. I'm an immigrant and speak my mother...
Last year Canada accepted 1.1 million immigrants and I bet less than half of them speak English. What are their language requirements? Most Quebecers speak English as it is the Global language of business. Will the Quebec passenger demand to be spoken in French in Ft. Lauderdale? Definitely not but in Canada the very small number of self centered Quebecers demand that all other Canadians speak their language. I'm an immigrant and speak my mother tongue as a personal choice and not a legal imposition. My family speaks Russian, Parisian French and abhor the hillbilly French spoken in Quebec as do all our friends from France. It's not French, it's just another Newfie dialect in 400 year old French. Obsolete!
Yeah the hate is pretty much one sided and yall a bunch of racists. Proof at hand, you.
Obselete, wow, that just warms my french canadian heart with love. thank god this isnt about religion or skin cokor huh?? my french national anthem gives you the proverbial finger buddy, the english one being a cheap translation, and so do both my french forefathers who bled in ww1 and ww2 in french canadian trenches in europe. You are part of the problem, entitleing yourself to decide if a culture is relevant or not. Racist.
Qcers are racist. Not victims.
Well you don’t understand much.
Anyone in Canada can freely travel to anyone. No one get boarded on a bus. Wtf are you talking about? Seriously?
And yeah 96% of Quebecers speaks French and public schools are in French. With rights for anglophones to go to public English schools.
There are fully private English schools that anyone can attend. But fully publicly public schools are in French. Like in any other places. You think someone...
Well you don’t understand much.
Anyone in Canada can freely travel to anyone. No one get boarded on a bus. Wtf are you talking about? Seriously?
And yeah 96% of Quebecers speaks French and public schools are in French. With rights for anglophones to go to public English schools.
There are fully private English schools that anyone can attend. But fully publicly public schools are in French. Like in any other places. You think someone can get guaranteed fully public school in or Japanese in Atlanta or Madrid?
From what I understand immigration is tightly controlled and if you don't speak French you are basically either boarded on a but to other parts of Canada or discriminated against.
Immigrants to Quebec are not allowed to go to any schools other than those with only French as the language of instruction.
Quebec is not bilingual.
You clearly never visited montreal with all its english scools and impossibility to get served in french in half the city. And no, we kerp most of canadas immigration, fact. Just a bit of history, the italians fought to be able to go to french schools because english was forced upon them back in the days.. history is ignored in a lot of comments here. French hate is not.
Firstly, most Quebecois don’t know English. Check Statcan
Second, Quebecers don’t demand that all other Canadian speaks French. But reading the comments here, it seems anglos really demand that QC shut up and speaks English.
Third, you proudly say you speak your mother tongue by choice. That’s exactly what this is about.
It’s about Quebecers being able to speak their mother tongue in their own province. He isn’t asking that every Canadian lear French,...
Firstly, most Quebecois don’t know English. Check Statcan
Second, Quebecers don’t demand that all other Canadian speaks French. But reading the comments here, it seems anglos really demand that QC shut up and speaks English.
Third, you proudly say you speak your mother tongue by choice. That’s exactly what this is about.
It’s about Quebecers being able to speak their mother tongue in their own province. He isn’t asking that every Canadian lear French, he wants to be able to get a service he paid for and is guaranteed in French in Quebec City.
If you look at the driver's licenses of the Provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and New Foundland and Labrador, they are bi-lingual, in English and French. If you look at the drivers license of Quebec, it is in French only. If the law in Canada is for governments to be bi-lingual, then the Provence of Quebec should have their drivers license in both English and French. Respect is a two way street.
irrelevant to the article
Not irrelevant at all. The drive'rs license is a prime example of a government issued document that could and should be bi-lingual. Quebec is not as accommodating to the rest of Canada as they demand the rest of Canada to accommodate them. I remember the referendum in 1995. It was VERY close. Maybe it is time for Quebec to form their own nation. It is about more than language, it is also about culture. Quebec...
Not irrelevant at all. The drive'rs license is a prime example of a government issued document that could and should be bi-lingual. Quebec is not as accommodating to the rest of Canada as they demand the rest of Canada to accommodate them. I remember the referendum in 1995. It was VERY close. Maybe it is time for Quebec to form their own nation. It is about more than language, it is also about culture. Quebec has it's own distinct culture. Quebec should preserve it's culture. Maybe separation is the best way.
Awwww
Posting my copies of irrelevant to the article on my posts.
So cute. You're butt hurt.
It's irrelevant because this is a case of a national carrier not providing service on one of the 2 National languages.
Quebec has its quirks. But at many are quick to point out Quebec is the minority. I would bet most things are English elsewhere.
Pointing out this one instance is trivial at best.
Rights? We have a province that tramples the rights of anglophones on a regular basis. A province that has “language police”. Language police? Rights?
No. When Quebec starts treating anglophones with respect then maybe I’ll care if someone on a plane gets to order his wine in québécois. For now, I don’t actually give a rats ass.
I think its the other way around, every effort the french ever made to love or protect their culture is always met with anti french hate like here.. seriously its racism on a lingual level.. change french to black and this thread is on cnn tomorrow. the hate is one sided, and only reciprocated by the french. Always been, but you gotta be french to see it, the hate. Haters think they are always right......
I think its the other way around, every effort the french ever made to love or protect their culture is always met with anti french hate like here.. seriously its racism on a lingual level.. change french to black and this thread is on cnn tomorrow. the hate is one sided, and only reciprocated by the french. Always been, but you gotta be french to see it, the hate. Haters think they are always right... karen is not a french name, just saying.
Because you are not racist yourself, do you not see the black community fighting for their rights still? Why is it so bad for english people when their own want to protect something that makes canada unique a awesome?
Ignorance. And martin luther kibg saud, protest is the language of the unheard. Yall not hearing us, and like in that flight, yall clearly dont wanna.
If yall were so virtuous, yall would encourage it. Petty is english in this case, not yhe guy who did every other step of his flight in french fro. Shopping to booking to be disrespected right at the moment ge got the service.
Alex. I'm a Newfoundlander. Could you explaexplain the "newfie" dialect to me?
Thank you / merci
Welcome to the club NF, they probly will dismiss most maritimes at the same time as quebec the racist morons. Not even a bit surprised.
Im not the one who wrote that about newfie dialect just clarifying. Different alex.
Matt you an American writing about Canada. Enough said.
I've seen many French Canadians pull this stunt. English Canadians are tired of these people who speak a declining language in Canada.
Racist comment. Dont make us a minority with an ism or we will make you wear french shirts to support our cause. Think real hard about switching language with skin color in what you wrote. Nuff said...
I've seen almost 100% of Anglo-Canadians pulling this stunt anywhere that isn't English speaking.
As a flight attendant in Canada (not AC), I understand the passenger’s complaint.
The flight originated within the province of Quebec. In my opinion, all flights to/from Quebec should be staffed by Quebec based flight attendants. (Air canada has a huge base in YUL).
I am not sure if this flight was part of a pairing for a YYZ or YVR based crew, but I would expect a flight from YQB to have...
As a flight attendant in Canada (not AC), I understand the passenger’s complaint.
The flight originated within the province of Quebec. In my opinion, all flights to/from Quebec should be staffed by Quebec based flight attendants. (Air canada has a huge base in YUL).
I am not sure if this flight was part of a pairing for a YYZ or YVR based crew, but I would expect a flight from YQB to have French speaking crew onboard.
Though, not all crew speak French. I myself do not. But it is a courtesy to try your best. It’s not hard to say “un bouteille d’eau?” No it isn’t proper scentenses, but at least showing that you’re trying makes the difference. Unless if this passenger was just overly unreasonable.
Again, for air canada it is not a requirement to speak French, they are a hugely diverse company, and many crew speak other languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Cantonese, Mandarin, etc, which is arguably more useful than a French speaker.
I think this guy is a typical prick from Quebec
And you a typical square head who never stepped in quebec
Just another example of an entitled French person being so principled that he likely held up departure for 200 plus other passengers just to make a point. These are some of the most obnoxious and entitled people in the north American continent. There is a reason this separatist regime has been trying to form their own "country " within Canada for as long as I can remember. They want to be an island.. and I...
Just another example of an entitled French person being so principled that he likely held up departure for 200 plus other passengers just to make a point. These are some of the most obnoxious and entitled people in the north American continent. There is a reason this separatist regime has been trying to form their own "country " within Canada for as long as I can remember. They want to be an island.. and I say let them have Quebec..and their whole attitude problem to go with it. I was born in Quebec, and watch my father get passed over repeatedly for promotion in his company, to watch it get handed to lesser qualified drench idiots merely because we were English Canadians. This had NOTHING to do with what was best for the company. It became so bad that we were forced to leave the province because we would never succeed under that umbrella. Ridiculous people!
Karens are not french, and half the stuff you write us racist to another level. Introspect a little, french advice
That sounds a lot like what ur dad told you as a kid... question, why not simply learn french? Why are there still english schools in quebec?
You know french only people get refused jobs and theres no laws forcing employers to hire french only people? Obnoxious people, racist.
Thank your god we are not a visible minority or you would get lynched right now.
M. Leblanc - I would bet that M. Waldron spoke passable if not perfect French.
He was passed over in the most likely scenario because he was not Quebecois. Period.
Wooooow! Thats gotta be the most reverse racist comment ive seen in a while. So say what you want to say, we are all racists in quebec right? Find a french thread destroying english people like this one for a random news event about language laws in the workplace and you get a cookie. For the last 20 years, itz been one sided echoes of something long since gone in quebec. Newsflash, we dont wanna...
Wooooow! Thats gotta be the most reverse racist comment ive seen in a while. So say what you want to say, we are all racists in quebec right? Find a french thread destroying english people like this one for a random news event about language laws in the workplace and you get a cookie. For the last 20 years, itz been one sided echoes of something long since gone in quebec. Newsflash, we dont wanna separate and have not for a long time. I dont mean votes, i kean general sentiment of the population.
Be thankful this thread is not about race.. or that canada allows you to talk about the french as "you people" without backlash.
My grandfather was a foreman for quebec cartier mining for trains, he hired people from all cultures and worked with them in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I really despise your assumption and racist generalization.
Well first of all, he was in quebec city. A french town, the plane was still in a place there are laws obligating businesses to offer service, and advertise in french. I feel the very heavy highlighting of the fact the guy was bilingual in the first couple paragraphs lol, you still cant make it sound right... i saw him speak that dude is pure laine quebec guy. He must certainly not master his second...
Well first of all, he was in quebec city. A french town, the plane was still in a place there are laws obligating businesses to offer service, and advertise in french. I feel the very heavy highlighting of the fact the guy was bilingual in the first couple paragraphs lol, you still cant make it sound right... i saw him speak that dude is pure laine quebec guy. He must certainly not master his second language, and even if he did, what if he did not? What if one of the business class customers was only french and just nodded happily not getting a single word the attendant said, what if this was an actual security crisis and the attendant could not communicate security directives to the passengers? What if this is just the first person coming out about it because usually french people will just try and not make a scene? This can be stretched many ways and i think highlights a bigger problem in air canadas approach to offering flight services to french speaking customers especially since there are laws protecting the language *from such abuse* by corporations. Clearly air canada playing a word game saying it was offered, because the cause of the proble is it was not. air canada did NOT offer this customer one of the other attendants to him, they told him bite the bullet or get off the flight Take another flight... REALLY??? for what? The same thing to happen on the next flight or was air canada guaranteeing a french agent in business class on the next flight? Does air canada now offer a preferred language of service when you book your flight on their french website?? Will we now allow air canada to offer faster booking for english speaking custies because there are less bilingual attendants? Is it cheaper for french people to fly with them? Air canada had service in french offered on the flight but the guy never got it and asked for it. Is it not irreleavant that it was offered if he could not access it like the other passengers in economy? In truth, it was not available, because its all he wanted, never got it, and im sure he wasnt asking impolitely untill he saw they bucked on it, again, in quebec city... in a province there are laws to force employers to offer service in french. His complaint to the office of the protection of the french language is actually quite legitimate and could see air canada fined for it. Anyways,
The guy didnt take transat, he took "air canada". To me its high end flying as there is much cheaper out there. And seriously explain to me how was french service available if it was refused to him as not available??? Not available means not available. Theres no half truth to this, they did not accomodate, nor did they diffuse, nor fix nor show any sort of respect for french speaking customers in that specific incident. Smells like another stock drop and federal bailout tbh..
Damn, you folks have too much time on your hands. Tempest in teapot. Just wait 2 more generations, these French wanks’ll be gone. Just death throes of another irrelevant culture.
Come for a stroll in quebec realize how wrong you are about our future lol
Hey just saying, in two generations you will probly be beheaded in a tv show for being so racist lol
Change french to black juuuust for fun see how dumb you sound.
As a French Immersion teacher in the prairies, I meet many French speaking Canadians who live outside of Québec. Even though I am bilingual, I often use French-speaking options for government services or national companies like airlines. And French-speakers have a right to service in French if it is their preferred language. This was an easy fix... move one of the two bilingual attendants to work business class if that is where the French need...
As a French Immersion teacher in the prairies, I meet many French speaking Canadians who live outside of Québec. Even though I am bilingual, I often use French-speaking options for government services or national companies like airlines. And French-speakers have a right to service in French if it is their preferred language. This was an easy fix... move one of the two bilingual attendants to work business class if that is where the French need was. I suspect the supervisor didn't want to work economy, so they refused to switch roles for one passenger. Unfortunately for Air Canada, they have committed to this level of service... they must do better.
Since the flight was destined to the US highly likely that 90-99% were English speakers throughout the plane. Most likely the French only speakers would be mainly in Y.
So your plan would be to move the Anglophone to an area where a higher proportion only spoke French to soothe the "hurt feelings" of an entitled cochon who was totally bilingual?
How about serving the customer in the same language he booked his flight?
Its just respect at some point.
Je peux vous repondre en francais aussi comme nous sommes dans un pays supposément bilingue, apprendrez-vous le français pour moi? Or is it just french peoples responsability as second class canadians to learn english to accomodate all other canadians. which we already do anyways...
Yeah because lets ignore the guy did everything else in french untill that point.
To french people, its not just whatever because we get english shoved down our throats like that guy did in a french city, in a company he booked a flight with in french.
This guy acted like real pain in the rear. What language would he be speaking in Florida? Not French. Some "unilingual" Quebecois who refuse to speak English in Canada, become instantly bilingual in the US. English is no problem at all. Quite miraculous.
Yeah because air canada clearly offered him service in french...
Lets just wait for a real french only perso to be told not to open the door of the plane mid flight to act on it.
The plane was on the ground in quebec, there are work laws about french and air canada will be fined for it.
I’m bilingual, it makes no difference we’re all Canadian for goodness sake.Planet is dying of co2 toxicity, Ukrainians are fighting for their lives and we’re wasting precious time and resources to satisfy arrogant narcissistic behaviour, our loss, we should wake up and stop listening to whiners and do something useful instead.
Oui, je trouve que tu as raison. On devrait ignorer les abus des autres envers nous pour que tout le monde soit content.. msis juste les anglophones heureux parce que c'est encore les maudits francais qui chialent.. Eille en passant, ouvre pas la porte de l'avion pendant qu'il vole, c'est dagereux.
Security issues aside, Your freedom ends where someone elses begins, and to be fair, guy was able yo get service in french all...
Oui, je trouve que tu as raison. On devrait ignorer les abus des autres envers nous pour que tout le monde soit content.. msis juste les anglophones heureux parce que c'est encore les maudits francais qui chialent.. Eille en passant, ouvre pas la porte de l'avion pendant qu'il vole, c'est dagereux.
Security issues aside, Your freedom ends where someone elses begins, and to be fair, guy was able yo get service in french all other points, booked in french checked in in french, and im sure the little safety speech with blow in the tubes was in both languages. Id be pissed off too at the company fir changing that when the actual service comes up.
The narcissist one being the experienced AirCanada FA that never bothered to make the effort to learn the 3 sentences they use on every single flight in the official language of the country? Right?
It would be easier if all flight attendants in a bilingual country would speak both languages. Especially flight directors. They teach both languages at school anyway. It’s also a matter of security onboard in case of emergency.
It is a security issue i feel.
Sorry. All Provinces EXCEPT QUEBEC are bi-lingual.
Quebec is UNI-LINGUAL by law and students are NOT TAUGHT ENGLISH. ALL BUSINESS MUST be conducted in FRENCH. Even when a uni-lingual patient goes to a doctor his diagnosis must be in French, even if not spoken by the patient.
My kids in BC went to French Immersion schools. Would not be possible in Quebec to learn English in school. (by law)
First, they teach english in french schools, and im not talking about the fake french type courses you guys do at english schools.
Yet... quebec is the only one truly bilingual. Parts of ottawa tries but thats about it as far as i know... If i go to a bank in winnipeg, can i expect to be served in french? Nope. You will get served in english if you come to quebec if you...
First, they teach english in french schools, and im not talking about the fake french type courses you guys do at english schools.
Yet... quebec is the only one truly bilingual. Parts of ottawa tries but thats about it as far as i know... If i go to a bank in winnipeg, can i expect to be served in french? Nope. You will get served in english if you come to quebec if you dont speak french tho... if they cant, they will find someone who will or some nice person will interpret... but we wont suggest you go to another bank if you are not happy like air canada.
Name ONE province that has laws enforcing french in the workplace except quebec. None.
Name one province forcing bilingual store signs and advertisement. None.
Go, i dare you to actually google english schools in quebec and see if there are more french schools elsewhere in the rest of canada.
And its soooo funny my 10 year old daughter just did 6 months english immersion in grade 5, and that i used to go to school right next to an english only college, that there are english and french schools in my tiny little town 1 hour north of montreal, that i can choose to pay tax to either french or english local schoolboard in my tiny town, or that usa news documents our st patties parade, yes the one from my little french town. Your ignorance of the actual facts is laughable at best. Most my buddies went to english college and universities, and last i checked, the buildings were still being used as they were back then. As english schools.
Before, it was english only schools for immigrants, and italian immigrants fought to go to french schools. We didnt force no one back then..
Go read before chiming in, you would sound better knowing things rather than assume everything off cbc headlines.
Also if you are not bilingual, why are you even speaking, go learn a language or something.. i sure as hell did since i grew up IN A BILINGUAL SETTING!
clearly you did not. Clearly you think you did too and thats really funny.
Well I find it ridiculous that only less than 20% of Canadians speak French and this language has been imposed on the rest of the country. I cannot understand this logic.
Thats exactly what the flight attendant was thinking huh? Those damn frenchies... the rats of canada so annoying right? exactly why you should not be one, exactly why you do not live in quebec, and exactly why you choose to belittle the french community clearly ignoring the history of canada, the fact it is a federation of provinces who govern themselves, and the fact this guy did everything else in french up untill he asked...
Thats exactly what the flight attendant was thinking huh? Those damn frenchies... the rats of canada so annoying right? exactly why you should not be one, exactly why you do not live in quebec, and exactly why you choose to belittle the french community clearly ignoring the history of canada, the fact it is a federation of provinces who govern themselves, and the fact this guy did everything else in french up untill he asked the attendant to communicate with him in the same language he booked his flight. And this is all quebec work laws aside which will see air canada fined for this. You are part of the problem, if this was skin color, you would be accused of hate crime with what you wrote. Its frikin language racist, and im not even gonna say nothing about your clearly ancestral canadian name.
History sir, do you know the national anthem? If you only speak english, you do not. I hope you figure out why and start showing some respect for your countrymen who built what you live in today. My french family fought both world wars in europe trenches under the canadian flag singing the original french national anthem. This is me giving you my french proverbial finger.
Bonne journee, ignorant raciste.
The final straw was the breakfast meal, which included an English muffin, and not French toast...
Sure, it seems petty, but if the law is the law then it is his right to be spoken to in French. It seems like it would be a better system to just make sure there is at least one bilingual FA in every cabin (not just on the plane), all the time.
How unfortunate that such a rational content gets buried away.
Wish I could vote this up
How pathetic that this makes front page news while 1.5 million Anglophones have left Quebec in the last 30 years because of their restrictive and fascist anti English policies
Its ok, since all immigrants come to quebec first we got 3 million back.
And to be fair, you abuse stats because in most those cases it wasnt due to language, more like flicking the finger when you walk away from your ex. This being said, be sure this quebec french dude who saw the english come in vans beat us up on our national holiday has been also flicking his at those who...
Its ok, since all immigrants come to quebec first we got 3 million back.
And to be fair, you abuse stats because in most those cases it wasnt due to language, more like flicking the finger when you walk away from your ex. This being said, be sure this quebec french dude who saw the english come in vans beat us up on our national holiday has been also flicking his at those who felt living in quebec was soooo hard they had to move away... the fact there are places who will only hire english people in montreal is proof we have very good reasons for protecting our language and french canadian culture.
Dude theres english areas in quebec, and french areas in all other provinces. Get real with your old english french stuff, its not what it was, and yes if quebec did not impose the language in the workplace, corporations would not bother making bilingual documents and then english would be forced on the french. We also are people, we also have an identity. With comments here saying how french is forced on the rest of canada, its just frkin racist tbh. If it would be color or religion, half the comments here would be moderated off...
There are bigger problems that fliers face. This guy knew English but refused to speak. Can understand if be did not know the language and had to be served in French. Much ado about nothing, surely.
Finland is a bilingual country (Finnish and Swedish). I was once on a AY flight, where one cabin crew member spent most of her time apologising to passengers that she doesn't speak either of those. Nobody made a fuss, just switched to English.
Quebec has recently asserted that French in Quebec is the only official language which is against the official stance of Canada. Can I go to a federal department in Quebec and demand service in my preferred language?
Yeah, you actually can, and no it said it was the primary language, not the only one. Quebec is bilingual, french first is what it is.
Go to montreal west, you wont be able to get served in french at all in many restaurants even if its the law.
Martin luther king jr saud, protest is the language of the unheard, you cleay dont wanna hear...
Funny how quebec has more english schools than rest of canada has french schools.
Are those schools illegal? If yes, we need to arrest the provincial prime minister for funding them huh?
My daughter is 10, just finished 6 months intensive english immersion in her school for 5th grade, and our english courses which are offered every year to all students in french programs are not fake courses like french classes in english...
Funny how quebec has more english schools than rest of canada has french schools.
Are those schools illegal? If yes, we need to arrest the provincial prime minister for funding them huh?
My daughter is 10, just finished 6 months intensive english immersion in her school for 5th grade, and our english courses which are offered every year to all students in french programs are not fake courses like french classes in english schools that you come out of knowing 3 different words to say hello. My daughter is 10 and understands the lyrics in songs... watches english tv, was raised 100% french culture.
you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Like none at all fringing the risk of sounding ... fill the blank. You are basically telling me, a quebec guy, it is illegal to learn english where i live while i look at my 10yo kid doing even better than me at her age, and me and my friends all being bilingual.
Are you? Cuz we sure as hell are most of us over here. I dont expect to even find a place i can get french service in toronto per example... im being realistic about it. I dont expect other canadians to learn my language if they dont need to, so i would in return expect a person who needs to, like a flight attendant, would!
A person who speaks only english or only french is not going to get hired at tim hortons in montreal 100%. It will be impossible to serve customers. A bilingual person will get the job over a unilingual individual in any situation. English is not illegal in quebec sir, it is MANDATORY! Else you work in a depot or food plant or something no speech is required for. I am french, like full tabarnac quebecois french, hows my G.E.D. english my good sir? Hows your french? Or your sons?
our national anthem is french sir, and translated to accomodate the english, not the other way around. We also matter, french also matters, and it does not matter less. and a person can live their whole life in the language they choose in qc, just saying. I cannot say this for any other province except maybe new brunzwick.
You can point fingers and judge all you want, in the end, quebec is bilingual, rest of canada is just not..
Who is the real hypocrits?
you very much can
Wow. This sounds incredibly petty.
I agree, air canada telling him to get another flight when he shopped, booked his flight, checked in, heard the little safety speech in french before being told other passengers will be served in french but not him, its quite petty... i would also have not spoken to the attendant i englush because he/she was petty enough to deny accomodating the customer by offering another attendant deal with him. the pettiest is the fact air...
I agree, air canada telling him to get another flight when he shopped, booked his flight, checked in, heard the little safety speech in french before being told other passengers will be served in french but not him, its quite petty... i would also have not spoken to the attendant i englush because he/she was petty enough to deny accomodating the customer by offering another attendant deal with him. the pettiest is the fact air canada said service was offered in french on the flight when the problem is it was not.
Its funny how anglo canada has a way to self entitle themselves to tell the french to shut it at every turn.
Unfortunately, quebec work laws will snap back and air canada will be fined for not obeying the laws. Im bilingual and im insulted in the french side atm.
And the irony of it is the (real) French look askance at Quebecois French. They really do! The sound of the dialect grates on their ears like listening to hicks or yokels. That's not me saying this. I wouldn't know because I don't speak French. That's coming from my former French team mates.
Ask them how many english words they use in a sentence to say they will park their cars to go shopping, i guarantee you will not need to speak french to understand.
So what you say, is our french is not real french to the french so its worthless? Wow... happy this aint about skin color or religion huh?
the service director was in charge, hence the title, and as such had to be the crew member closest to the flight deck for emergencies and comms with the flight crew, so she was quite right to stay working in Business class with the other two working in economy.
Incorrect! The solution would have been for the flight director to serve economy cabin and have business class handled by a bilingual flight attendant. Director was being picky on cabin she liked to serve in, need to re-train cabin crew on their customer service responsibilities.
And crew scheduling should get rapped on their knuckles for assigning non-French speaking flight attendants on a flight originating in, of all places, QUEBEC CITY! What were they thinking??
It was a YYZ-FLL flight
How does it makes sense to have someone not speaking the language of 99% of Quebec City in charge in case of emergencies?
There was a third option. Repeat the passenger in economy class where a bilingual FA was working.
Fourth: respect quebec work laws and offer service in french.
I am writing this before reading anyone’s comments. I am bilingual, too. The language politics in Québec are tricky and history matters. This gentleman was not communicated to in his native language. This is law in Canada. Principle does matter. What leaves me perplexed is why the head flight attendant didn’t just reassign herself economy ans reassign one of the French speaking attendants to business class. The blame ultimately lies with the service provider who...
I am writing this before reading anyone’s comments. I am bilingual, too. The language politics in Québec are tricky and history matters. This gentleman was not communicated to in his native language. This is law in Canada. Principle does matter. What leaves me perplexed is why the head flight attendant didn’t just reassign herself economy ans reassign one of the French speaking attendants to business class. The blame ultimately lies with the service provider who was indifferent to the customer’s desires and who didn’t respect the law.
Incorrect. The current Law in Quebec is that the only official language in Quebec is French and that business cannot be conducted in English, even if it is you native tongue. You can't even speak to your doctor legally in English.
Wrong on all statements, where do you get your information???
"The man was hoping that other passengers would stand up in his defense, but they reportedly didn’t."
Probably because they all knew how much of a non-issue all of this was.
I would told him to take a hike. Or go to France. These kind of people are just trouble makers.
Yeah you go to england.
Thus french guy giving you the proverbial finger. Racist.
Let's bear on mind that of the three FAs on board two were going to be occupied with vastly more passengers in economy, many of whom would be unilingual francophone, given the YQB origin.
Keeping a unilingial service director in J serving only 14 passengers is the least bad option, especially when the other two FAs have more than enough work to do during service.
...aaaaaaanddddd the woe is me attitude of the Francophone continues!!!! pardon me, but the flight was destined for the United States!!!! i would've felt for this guy if it was a domestic Canadian flight or a flight bound to some French destination but it wasn't!!! and PLUS he could speak in English --- so why didn't he!!! and what was he planning on speaking in Ft Lauderdale!!!!! drama queen!!! so sick and fed up of this!!!!
Yeah we feel the support from our english speaking canadian brothers on the daily treating us second class all the time. If we are one country, why do you guys not support us in defending this truly canadian gem that is part of it being culturally french speaking? We have a full french tv serviceS, french movies theater schools, why does everytime we want to be respected becomes our fault? I think i will invent...
Yeah we feel the support from our english speaking canadian brothers on the daily treating us second class all the time. If we are one country, why do you guys not support us in defending this truly canadian gem that is part of it being culturally french speaking? We have a full french tv serviceS, french movies theater schools, why does everytime we want to be respected becomes our fault? I think i will invent quebecophobia and force english people to wear tshirts like the other oppressed minorities out there.. entitle the french too a little, considering our countrys anthem is french first, i think i can make us victims enough for it no?
Be careful, the things you say, in other contexts, would be hateful racism.
The "you people" is strong in your speech...
Quebec law prohibits English on signs. BC etc law requires French on signs. Your soap box about being victimized is on very shaky ground.
Hum no, quebec law forces french on signs, then people are free to translate it however they want on the same sign. English is not banned french is forced and thats a biiiig difference. Quebec law bans no french on signs, it does not ban english on em seriously where do you get all this stuff?
Whaaaaaaa!
Another sign of French "belligerence". It's about time Quebec was allowed to go its own way. This bilingual nonsense must be costing the National Government and the other provinces billions of dollars.
Canada started in quebec, and the national anthem is french. How about you leave racist butt wipe
I think the guys an ass. Yes if he only spoke French Ok fine he would have a case. But he was just being a D$%^.
Just another entitled French prick. Speaks English, But won't, yup, typical. Then they wonder why the rest of the country think are a bunch of jerk offs.
We need to be a unilingual English only country. Speak whatever you want, but officially English only. Save so much money by not pandering to Quebec.
Racist is what the rest of canada is is what your are basically saying? This thread is just pure shame for canada... french people gotta be bilingual but not english ones, hey, want a coffee with that too? Little shoe shine my good sir? Can i buy it in alberta since theres like 50% less tax? Make quebec black and you were lynched for this "you people" racist rant you just spewed on the net...
Racist is what the rest of canada is is what your are basically saying? This thread is just pure shame for canada... french people gotta be bilingual but not english ones, hey, want a coffee with that too? Little shoe shine my good sir? Can i buy it in alberta since theres like 50% less tax? Make quebec black and you were lynched for this "you people" racist rant you just spewed on the net...
You probly drove a fk trudeau flag all the way to go ask him for something didnt ya?
Self entitled english man acting superior, if you are not bilingual, you only have one right, farme ta crisse de gueule.
I have been exactly in the same situation as that service director several times except that I am francophone and some of my crew were not. Airlines must have crew that speak multiple languages and it is impossible to serve everyone in their language of choice out of principle or not. French is not my primary language but was when I was little in Europe and feel embarrassed by such a pompous attitude particularly when...
I have been exactly in the same situation as that service director several times except that I am francophone and some of my crew were not. Airlines must have crew that speak multiple languages and it is impossible to serve everyone in their language of choice out of principle or not. French is not my primary language but was when I was little in Europe and feel embarrassed by such a pompous attitude particularly when the customer was bilingual. I am sorry that some of us make the rest of us be … uncivilized, undesirable, and look bad. Thankfully, there are only a few out there that appear to be …. Unresolved! It is all about themselves.
Who is going to serve him in French when he is in Florida ? I'm always puzzled by these cases. The individuals are traveling to a predominantly English speaking country yet expect service in French while enroute. Moreover it is interesting how a financial settlement seems to resolve the issue.
He shopped in french, booked in french, checked his luggage in french, then he sat down and got told he would have to use HIS second language to accomodate the attendant working a flight off a city that is in a province with laws to that effect. His complaint will see air canada fined for not respecting the law.
Now... entitled people are all over, male female, old young, black white doesnt matter, and...
He shopped in french, booked in french, checked his luggage in french, then he sat down and got told he would have to use HIS second language to accomodate the attendant working a flight off a city that is in a province with laws to that effect. His complaint will see air canada fined for not respecting the law.
Now... entitled people are all over, male female, old young, black white doesnt matter, and the reasons are endless.
This hate quebec thread is pissing me off to another level with all the racism. Im french quebec proud to be bilingual canadian.
But i feel hated by my countrymen and i look at both my forefathers who did ww1 and ww2 as french canadians with sadness the e glush part would just erase us instead of getting it..
Martin luther king: protest is the voice if the unheard.
That man was protesting. Even if i agree he probly went karen on the attendant. Still in his rights to request to be served in the language he booked and paid.
Those suggesting that the Francophone is feeling entitled have missed the boat entirely. Or the plane, rather, as it's the other way around. I recall one extreme case of anglophone entitlement in Charles de Gaulle airport. In an airport bookstore, I overheard an American couple saying, and I paraphrase: "this is awful: they have no English language selection here!" I turned to them and asked if they had ever tried buying foreign language books in...
Those suggesting that the Francophone is feeling entitled have missed the boat entirely. Or the plane, rather, as it's the other way around. I recall one extreme case of anglophone entitlement in Charles de Gaulle airport. In an airport bookstore, I overheard an American couple saying, and I paraphrase: "this is awful: they have no English language selection here!" I turned to them and asked if they had ever tried buying foreign language books in the United States. They gave me that look fellow Americans give Americans who embrace international understanding, that one that suggests you aren't a real American.
This privileged individual really needs to get a life. Obviously just making trouble for the employee, because he can. An absurd clown in any language.
Yes, Canada is bilingual everywhere except Quebec.
lol!
Quebec js by a wide margin the most bilingual province:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220817/mc-a002-eng.htm
A very simple solution would have been for the service director to switch working positions with the French speaking one. Badda bing, badda boom. That service director should be undergoing a little course on customer sercice.
Aaah, that sounds exactly like a francophone.
Their feeling of absolute entitlement is astounding.
Imagine this: an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Heathrow, but the crew can only speak French. Would you be a "entitled anglophone" for complaining about that? Double standard!
Your hypothetical argument is called the "straw man" when analyzing logic flaws in debating.
Since the UK is mainly English speaking there would definitely be English spoken on-board. Probably not Welsh, Scots or Gaelic. Or Manx?
Now imagine an anglophone being spoken to in French on a flight departing from Vancouver to Tokyo.
That entitlement is called a law.
Racist comment. Try replacing francophone by women or natives just to see how stoopid you sounded right there.
Try to speak French to the Americans once you’ve landed in Fort Lauderdale.
If you can’t adapt, just stay in your little province isolated from the rest of the world!
Why would he go to Fort Lauderdale? That's not happening once he arrives. It's insanity and entitlement. Fly anywhere in the world, and I wonder which of those languages is spoken on every flight.
Lots of french in florida, they sell our cigarettes there too. Guy spoke english, was insulted the employee of the company he dealt with in french to book did not. With reason. Its insulting.
When I lived in Canada 40 years ago noone cared about language issues except in Quebec.
Now this stupidity has spread and is even amazingly government regulated
Have at it losers
Actually I'm still Canadian but not exactly proud of it anymore
Well I guess the next time I visit Quebec I better throw a BIGASS hissy, when they don't speak to me in English and only English ...being that is my first language.
All good, we are actually bilingual here, unlike rest of canada who fakes being.
There's a lot of criticism of this passenger that seems disconnected from the details of this flight. The flight originated in YQB- Ville de Quebec - where at least 80% of the population is French-speaking- which the highest percentage of any city with a major Canadian airport. Quebec City is also one of a handful of Canadian cities where French-speakers can live all domains of their life using their home language.
Having a flight...
There's a lot of criticism of this passenger that seems disconnected from the details of this flight. The flight originated in YQB- Ville de Quebec - where at least 80% of the population is French-speaking- which the highest percentage of any city with a major Canadian airport. Quebec City is also one of a handful of Canadian cities where French-speakers can live all domains of their life using their home language.
Having a flight attendant incapable of speaking french for business class on this flight makes as much sense as having a French-only flight attendant on a flight from St. John's to Fort Lauderdale. I would imagine that if there was a French-only flight attendant on that flight, Air Canada would definitely get more than a few complaints- including the English-speakers commenting on this post.
Honestly the mentality underlying the tone of most of the comments on this post are the reason why Quebecois are so touchy. They realize that their language, their culture, and their laws are seen as a nuisance by many English-speaking Canadians. And so when they pay for a business class ticket from the most Francophone city and can't be provided service in French, they assume the worst and react accordingly.
So I don't get sued:
Il y a beaucoup de critiques sur ce passager qui semble déconnecté des détails de ce vol. Le vol provenait de YQB - Ville de Québec - où au moins 80% de la population est francophone - qui a le pourcentage le plus élevé de toutes les villes avec un grand aéroport canadien. La ville de Québec est également l'une des rares villes canadiennes où les francophones peuvent vivre tous les domaines de leur vie en utilisant leur langue maternelle.
Avoir un agent de bord incapable de parler français pour la classe affaires sur ce vol est tout aussi logique que d'avoir un agent de bord uniquement français sur un vol de St. John's à Fort Lauderdale. J'imagine que s'il y avait un agent de bord uniquement français sur ce vol, Air Canada recevrait certainement plus que quelques plaintes, y compris les anglophones commentant ce message.
Honnêtement, la mentalité sous-jacente au ton de la plupart des commentaires sur ce post est la raison pour laquelle les Québécois sont si susceptibles. Ils se rendent compte que leur langue, leur culture et leurs lois sont perçues comme une nuisance par de nombreux Canadiens anglophones. Ainsi, lorsqu'ils paient un billet en classe affaires depuis la ville la plus francophone et qu'ils ne peuvent pas être desservis en français, ils s'attendent au pire et réagissent en conséquence.
Finally some common sense! It took your comment to finally diffuse me and stop being so angry at all the comments...
I will add that the customer had also shopped, booked, paid, registered and checked in in french, its not just about the city... He was denied being served in the language he initially used to deal with air canada. Doesnt excuse the fit, but i do get his point. To me, its just...
Finally some common sense! It took your comment to finally diffuse me and stop being so angry at all the comments...
I will add that the customer had also shopped, booked, paid, registered and checked in in french, its not just about the city... He was denied being served in the language he initially used to deal with air canada. Doesnt excuse the fit, but i do get his point. To me, its just disrespectful and you are correct, i am extremely more touchy about it after reading all the cancel quebec culture comments in here, or just the general lack of respect and insults other minorities would scream racism or discrimination for... if you cant say it by replacing quebeker by black or woman, dont say it at all. Im quite insulted as a quebec french guy right now from all i read here.
Merci Pierre, très pertinent
I guess AC could have refused to make the fligjht as THEY were lacking a flight attendant who was fluent in French;
Or they could have just served the customer in the language he used to buy his ticket huh?
Wow.
If you cannot really understand English and the only language you speak is French, then feel bad---complaint all you want. But please, Don't just use your "sorth of right **right**" just to give the FA a hard time.
Canada is a country full of migrant people.. from all over the world. That what makes it CANADA. They may not be french speaking people, but for sure they speak 2-3 or even more languange.....
Wow.
If you cannot really understand English and the only language you speak is French, then feel bad---complaint all you want. But please, Don't just use your "sorth of right **right**" just to give the FA a hard time.
Canada is a country full of migrant people.. from all over the world. That what makes it CANADA. They may not be french speaking people, but for sure they speak 2-3 or even more languange.. it just happen that it wasnt "FRENCH"
I myself speak other languanges aside from english. But sad to say, my languages is not even a part of Air Canada language qualified speaker. (Not considered in their asset language list) but to tell you honestly, I speak english thats good enough.
I went to Montreal one time, i tried to order at Starbucks in english, the lady who were taking my orders told me "french only"
And she new i wasnt a french speaker..
Of course, i walked out!
Wow the starbucks thing is suuuuuuch a lie hahahahaha
The law is very clear; a passenger should be served in his preferred language. Non bilingual flight attendants are simply challenging the system. If they do not wish to learn French, they should take another job and leave this job to those willing to respect the law.
What are the English speaking people’s rights in Quebec? They are suppressed and ignored. English speaking people in Quebec are secondary citizens. We need the federal government to treat us equally as it treats the French in the rest of Canada.
You got it wrong, french are second class citizens who need laws to protect themselves from abuse in the workplace and public sphere.. those laws also ensure you dont have arabic signs all over like in ville stlaurent. Now you name me one english quebec citizen right being baffled..
oh im sorry, learning french. We gotta learn english but you guys dont french and thats why half of montreal you cant get service in...
You got it wrong, french are second class citizens who need laws to protect themselves from abuse in the workplace and public sphere.. those laws also ensure you dont have arabic signs all over like in ville stlaurent. Now you name me one english quebec citizen right being baffled..
oh im sorry, learning french. We gotta learn english but you guys dont french and thats why half of montreal you cant get service in french..
No worries tho, we already felt the hate before you spoke. Im sure pauline marois did when that english dude tried to kill the french prime, even if i hate her, clearly the french hate is much deeper rooted. This racist thread is proof enough, no french threads blasting anglos like this.. or much fewer and not in news.
Ok, go order a coffee in french in toronto. Lol please... equal in quebec but unequal elsewhere would be equal to you? French having rights makes yours less? How? By being? Thats awefully close to being racist...
Name one suppressed right. One.
This l”imbicile should be banned from flying Air Canada ever sgain!
The passenger is shameful. He has the option to take another airline if wants. How about when you go to Quebec and all they do is speak and have signage posted in only French. Hypocritical
Does he expect to be serviced in French in Ft Lauderdale as well, considering that he prefers to speak French.
I work for a French company and I asked some French colleagues what did they think of French Canadians…
Rude and not French! And that was from more than a dozen Parisians!
Yeah ask other french what they think of parisians lol
To me this guy was a total cry baby like many quebecers I am an english man that lives in quebec rhat rarely gets spoken to in my prefered language - english
What was he going to do in florida where i bet is a very minimal amount of people that speak french . Complain to the mayor of ft lauderdale ???
Rarely gets spoken to in english in quebec??? Really???? I think you can victimise a lot better than that considering you basically have to be bilingual to get any sort of job in quebec nowadays. Oh one tiny question, did you ever learn french?
I learned english... i mean, bilingual country where non bilingual citizens bring down the other language and belittle its associated culture... doesnt sound too canadian to me. Maybe the english...
Rarely gets spoken to in english in quebec??? Really???? I think you can victimise a lot better than that considering you basically have to be bilingual to get any sort of job in quebec nowadays. Oh one tiny question, did you ever learn french?
I learned english... i mean, bilingual country where non bilingual citizens bring down the other language and belittle its associated culture... doesnt sound too canadian to me. Maybe the english need to be a little more happy for the french to be proud to be, like they do with the natives and other minorities? Do we need to have an ism to stop the insults all the time we say the word french? Jealousy maybe? A hockey thing? You tell me... because i dont see how loving french culture and its language makes anglos hate us. I saw comments in here you cannot say anymore by changing quebeker to woman, native or african american or get arrested for hate speech... anglo canadians entitle themselves to discriminate very badly on the french, and you all expect respect when none is given, at all, ever. I grew up centre-sud, st laurent, i saw it all and did get beat up for being french, white also but another topic...
That is exactly why they changed the laws, its called pushing BACK the bullies. For decades, french was secondary in quebec fighting for its identity, now its primary in law because of excessive crap from the rest of canada and especially english quebekers.
You know why you heard about roxham? Because immigrants started pouring in through niagara falls, and suddenly, now our decades long problem gets fixed because an english mayor spoke... thats how we feel. Quebec? Who cares.. its just the french.
ALL THE TIME
But he was going to fort Lauderdale.
Now imagine if the US named English and Spanish as the two official languages and passed a law similar to the Candian official languages act.
Then, on a flight from Puerto Rico to Miami. This scenario happens, except the man insist on being served in Spanish.
Will all the comment here still say, essentially, "Get over yourself"? Or will we be having discussion of systematic racism and cultural erasure?
AC faced legal...
Now imagine if the US named English and Spanish as the two official languages and passed a law similar to the Candian official languages act.
Then, on a flight from Puerto Rico to Miami. This scenario happens, except the man insist on being served in Spanish.
Will all the comment here still say, essentially, "Get over yourself"? Or will we be having discussion of systematic racism and cultural erasure?
AC faced legal challenges on this previously. Why don't they take it seriously and staff accordingly? Why aren't SOP already developed to handle this (e.g., as you've identified - immediately switch position and have one of the French speaking crew works in Business class)?
Fully agree. Thank you @Ray.
I also fully agree.
Very pertinent comment.
Why arent we talking about systemic discrimination of the french in canada then, lots of the things written in here could not be said about natives, women or african americans, but accepted when its about quebecers, why is it ok to make cultural insults towards quebec people? I dont see quebec people do this, but everytime there is a language defense issue, we get defecated on as a people, its quite...
Very pertinent comment.
Why arent we talking about systemic discrimination of the french in canada then, lots of the things written in here could not be said about natives, women or african americans, but accepted when its about quebecers, why is it ok to make cultural insults towards quebec people? I dont see quebec people do this, but everytime there is a language defense issue, we get defecated on as a people, its quite insulting and belittleling and frustrating to be honest. Especially from our own countrymen and women...
There's a difference between having no flight attendants who speak the language, versus an individual flight attendant not being able to speak a language. Every single airline flying between Puerto Rico and South Florida will roster Spanish speaking flight attendants on their flights. It's also of course entirely possible that one or two of the flight attendants may not be Spanish speakers. If NONE of the FA's on such a flight spoke Spanish then it...
There's a difference between having no flight attendants who speak the language, versus an individual flight attendant not being able to speak a language. Every single airline flying between Puerto Rico and South Florida will roster Spanish speaking flight attendants on their flights. It's also of course entirely possible that one or two of the flight attendants may not be Spanish speakers. If NONE of the FA's on such a flight spoke Spanish then it would be at best, dumb on the part of the airline, and at worst, could indeed and probably should bring about discussions about systemic racism and cultural erasure. That is not the most directly applicable comparison to this story though. For as much as there are debates about cultural sensitivity, racism, and minority recognition in the US, and as much as many people becoming tired of it, I don't think any (reasonable) person here would take an issue with the scenario of a single FA not speaking a language. It very much could and almost certainly does happen. There were plenty of ways this passenger could have been accommodated (and fwiw I'm not fond of AC's offer to have him take a different flight rather than just sending an economy FA to check on him every once in a while) but the passenger needs to recognize the realities of the demographics of Canada and that people who speak French as a first language are a minority. This entire conflict is just unfair to the FA in question. Should AC be forced to not hire them, or anyone else, on the grounds that they do not speak French?
Canada is not a bilingual country! There are parts of it that speak French. There are other parts of it that speak English only. The French speakers better get used to occasionally finding themselves in an English only speaking part of it. And don't give me this crap about what the laws say you have to do. I have lived in Toronto for quite a while and I have never heard a word of French...
Canada is not a bilingual country! There are parts of it that speak French. There are other parts of it that speak English only. The French speakers better get used to occasionally finding themselves in an English only speaking part of it. And don't give me this crap about what the laws say you have to do. I have lived in Toronto for quite a while and I have never heard a word of French being spoken here. If a French speaking person expects to do business here in French, I think they are dreaming!
Maybe this Air Canada passenger should try WestJet next time. If they know both languages, use them. Or maybe they can take Delta or American - good luck there too!!
Air Canada met their obligation to have bi-lingual service on the plane; it didn't have to be the business class service director. The passenger was bi-lingual but as a matter of principal he was willing to inconvenience the passengers in the other sections of the airplane to require that the person serving him was bi-lingual even though he didn't require it to understand the person. What principles?
He booked, shopped, paid registeted and checked in in french. It is quite insulting to be told "english only please" after...
he made the effort to learn english, attendant did not even know 1 word, ac did not feel it was necessary to have a french speaking attendant for a flight leaving quebecs capital city for its business class, and when he expressed his insatisfaction, he was told he could leave the plane... its...
He booked, shopped, paid registeted and checked in in french. It is quite insulting to be told "english only please" after...
he made the effort to learn english, attendant did not even know 1 word, ac did not feel it was necessary to have a french speaking attendant for a flight leaving quebecs capital city for its business class, and when he expressed his insatisfaction, he was told he could leave the plane... its a whole lot of insulting little details when, once again, the french guy had made the effort and expected air canada would have been equally respectful towards its french speaking clients. Clearly not.
To clarify, he went to the media himself with this, and ac will get fined for breaking the law for being unable to serve a customer in french on french soil.
Principle is there, ac serves french customers and operates offices in a place where the law requires french to be accessible.
You cant get lynched for denouncing tax fraud, this is exactly what is happening to this man.
What a "principled" idiot !! If there was something that was life-threatening or making his travel unsafe or uncomfortable.....there was someone to talk to him in French. Other than that, its a role of the dice sometimes.
The flight attendant should have whipped out her phone, and used a translator app to converse with him.
What's the french word for crybaby ?
I believe the word you're looking for is "pleurnicher" or "pleurnichard" (the latter is the informal way of saying it).
Canada is a bilingual country . Mr Beaudoin is right to be spoken in French , it’s his right under our constitution. The flight director should not have answered the way she did .
Some of the comments here are racist and some are ridiculous.
No one speak French, it is ridiculous to insist on French. I believe in Quebec as well, only immigrants from North Africa, are the one who cannot speak in English and prefer French.
Come to quebec before you talk. It is all french here, and it is 20% of canada. 20% is not nothing. My ancestors fight in ww1 ww2 in french canadian regiments, how dare you say french is nothing!!!
I want to tell you bad things right now, but i will scream them in french instead in my french home, in my french town, watching my french tv, eating my french bread. You go where...
Come to quebec before you talk. It is all french here, and it is 20% of canada. 20% is not nothing. My ancestors fight in ww1 ww2 in french canadian regiments, how dare you say french is nothing!!!
I want to tell you bad things right now, but i will scream them in french instead in my french home, in my french town, watching my french tv, eating my french bread. You go where there is no french, how about this? Take air canada, you will love it.
Also try to replace french with islam see how you sound after... racist.
This man is ridiculous, he is going to the USA, where they don't speak French, how is he going to communicate, does he expect the Americans to provide French interpreters for him. I think he should grow up.
Dan he is travelling on AC not American Airlines and once in the USA he is aware that English is spoken there and he will speak English . In the USA English is the official language. Me Beaudoin is after all bilingual.
Not the attendant tho...
And Quebec wonders why the rest of Canada doesn't like their attitude sometimes... Exactly situations like this... Was the passenger within his legal rights to complain? Absolutely. Was Air Canada less than clever to assign an English-only crew member to a flight originating from Quebec City of all places? Absolutely. Can the rest of us shake our heads at the sheer pin-headedness of this whole issue as the passenger chooses of their own volition to...
And Quebec wonders why the rest of Canada doesn't like their attitude sometimes... Exactly situations like this... Was the passenger within his legal rights to complain? Absolutely. Was Air Canada less than clever to assign an English-only crew member to a flight originating from Quebec City of all places? Absolutely. Can the rest of us shake our heads at the sheer pin-headedness of this whole issue as the passenger chooses of their own volition to die on the bilingual "cross"? Absolutely.
And Canada wonders why Quebec doesn’t like its attitude sometimes.
There is a right to be served in French on Air Canada and he is in Quebec City. A city where 99%+ can speak French.
He is asking to be served in French and he is told no and leave the plane is not happy.
The passenger shares is frustration about the situation. English Canada goes: see! this is why we can’t stand them!
...And Canada wonders why Quebec doesn’t like its attitude sometimes.
There is a right to be served in French on Air Canada and he is in Quebec City. A city where 99%+ can speak French.
He is asking to be served in French and he is told no and leave the plane is not happy.
The passenger shares is frustration about the situation. English Canada goes: see! this is why we can’t stand them!
What are francos supposed to do to be liked? Shut up and never speak French in public in their home town?
Sounds like this man is an asshole
or as one would say to him so he can understand ...."connard" !!
:-) I had to look it up.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=asshole+in+french
The Monsieur needs to get a life. Also, I think you you have used a better analogy than Chipotle and a gun.
What a moaning cunt.
What a lot of crap!! Waw waw English IS the universal language. So !!! Shut it and, "quit cha bitchin" lol
Well I suppose that he had a point but which of the two languages did he propose to communicate with the good citizens of Fort Lauderdale with when he got there!
That there were two on board who did speak, and yet neither gave the man any notice, is it possible the man was rude and/or obnoxious from the start? It seems odd to me there could be a Canadian who wouldn't help in an honest small trouble like a language barrier, any language, but if also believe the average Canadian doesn't suffer assholes.
Just a thought. We never get the whole story.
Sounds a bit petty to me but I’m surprised that on a flight to Quebec all the FAs aren’t bilingual.
I’d like to know how AC commented on this issue so fast (after only two weeks). Although a Million Mile guy I can’t get my missing credits complaint even responded to, let alone resolved, after over two months. Maybe I need to turn this into a language complaint, I’m guessing that’s why this one answered so quickly.
Geez I sure hope that his luggage didn't get lost.
The dude is a self entitled Jerk. He needs to get over it.
As an English Canadian do I have the right to demand English be spoken in the heart of Quebec?
nope that right stops at the Ontario border and starts up again at the NB border.
You won't get much English in rural Quebec but the cities are much more affable to English people than they were 20 years or more ago.
Do we demand french be spoken in the heart of toronto?
Sad thing is, you will get served in english in quebec, dead center, and they will try if they struggle with it. They wont tell you to find another restaurant or anything so disrespectful.
You can definitely ask to be served in English on a AC flight.
Which is what this is about.
Obviously this is something you can’t grasp because you’ll never experience being told that service will only be in French or you can leave the plane.
Culture survives without language. Multiple languages leads to poor communication and longer drawn out translation. Also there are a lot of translation apps available!
I have had enough of the french demands, to be treated as an equal, as an anglophone I travel in Quebec at least 4 or 5 times a month on business and have tried communicating in my broken french and only to be laugh at , so when things are equal then I might start caring
So you wish for francophones to be treated less than equal to anglophones?
We are now almost down to 20% of Canadians speaking French as preferred language and single digits of percentage of Canadians that speak French and do not understand English. Time to suck it up. If you don't want to speak or hear English, stay home in Rimouski. 2 of the 3 flight attendants spoke french, these bigots won't be happy until all 3 don't speak any English.
The Service Director should have altered the service positions and changed working positions with a bilingual F.A.
I had wondered about this. if the AC claim was true then did labor rules stand in the way of having bilingual service in the cabin that hosted this butt head?
No doubt union rules prevented the FAs from switching.
I agree. There was an easy solution. Would have gone a long way to customer service.
We see this stuff all the time. Yes we have two official languages, but try being unilingual-French and see if you can get a job, outside of rural Québéc. There's the ideal, the official stance, and there's the real, and French, although a lovely language when spoken correctly, just isn't equal, and gets up certain people's noses.
The battle between these languages and cultures isn't new. I needn't cite any examples but any time...
We see this stuff all the time. Yes we have two official languages, but try being unilingual-French and see if you can get a job, outside of rural Québéc. There's the ideal, the official stance, and there's the real, and French, although a lovely language when spoken correctly, just isn't equal, and gets up certain people's noses.
The battle between these languages and cultures isn't new. I needn't cite any examples but any time the English and French were involved in joint projects, such as Concorde, the French were expected to speak English. Adding the 'e' at the end of Concorde was just a function of quieting them down. We make concessions to quiet them down. But again, it's not equal.
Life isn't fair.
And then you die.
fin
We would need more passenger right advocates like this guy, and not just for language rights, but also for things like delays, cancelations, lost baggage, missed compensation, etc. etc. Air Canada is a failure on all fronts in matter of customer service and when it's time to respect passengers rights.
Air Canada has a special exemption from Canada’s language charter, so by law they do not have to provide any service in French.
Fake news. Air Canada has no special exemption.
According to the Air Canada Public Participation Act (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-10.1/page-1.html), "The Official Languages Act applies to the Corporation" (as per section 10).
You can also read a more recent report from last year where the compliance of Air Canada to the Official Languages Act was questioned: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/corporate/transparency/open-government/standing-committee/petitpas-taylor-official-languages-march2022/air-canada-compliance-ol-qp.html.
Last, Air Canada has also declared their will to comply with Quebec Charter of the French Language.
Fake news. Air Canada has no special exemption.
According to the Air Canada Public Participation Act (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-10.1/page-1.html), "The Official Languages Act applies to the Corporation" (as per section 10).
You can also read a more recent report from last year where the compliance of Air Canada to the Official Languages Act was questioned: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/corporate/transparency/open-government/standing-committee/petitpas-taylor-official-languages-march2022/air-canada-compliance-ol-qp.html.
Last, Air Canada has also declared their will to comply with Quebec Charter of the French Language.
You have it backwards. In fact AC is the ONLY airline that these ridiculous language rules apply to. Time to toss them out.
A lot of BS from an arrogant Quebecua. No wonder Floridians despise French residents from Quebec.
Air Canada could have accommodated this passenger. All they had to do was switch an attendant to business class. He was paying a premium price to fly in business class. To be told he could suck it up or change planes is very rude. There was no need for the problem. A/C is very arrogant, acting like they have a monopoly which they almost do.
That's not how it goes. A language speaker Fa can cross to either cabin to assist, as needed. But no staff is going to be demoted or basically discriminated from a position for something that isn't lawfully required. The language was there. He just wanted it his way.
He probably consulted with Michel and Lynda Thibodeau before he filed this ridiculous lawsuit.
The only Keybeckers I've come across who don't speak English well are those degens from up-country, except Marie-Fred. She's hot.
Aside from the official languages act and the special requirements placed on Air Canada as a former government owned airline, to me the operational aspects here are strange. Unlike Montreal, which is split pretty evenly between anglophone and francophone, Quebec City is primarily French speaking and some older people there speak no English. Why would you operate a premium cabin with a service director that speaks no French out of Quebec City? Would AC operate...
Aside from the official languages act and the special requirements placed on Air Canada as a former government owned airline, to me the operational aspects here are strange. Unlike Montreal, which is split pretty evenly between anglophone and francophone, Quebec City is primarily French speaking and some older people there speak no English. Why would you operate a premium cabin with a service director that speaks no French out of Quebec City? Would AC operate a flight from YYC to FLL with a service director that spoke little or no English? It just seems like a poor business operation, but then again this is AC! The most important standard is delivering bad service, regardless of the language ;)
'wouldn't be so principled'?
Ouf... When your flight is delayed by a regulated amount of time or cancelled outright, do you refer to getting airlines to comply with legislation as being principled? Do you understand why the bilingualism requirement exists for AC (hint: the same level of bilingualism is not required for WestJet, Flair, other airlines)? Part of converting AC from a crown corp to a private enterprise involved codifying certain government provisions into their...
'wouldn't be so principled'?
Ouf... When your flight is delayed by a regulated amount of time or cancelled outright, do you refer to getting airlines to comply with legislation as being principled? Do you understand why the bilingualism requirement exists for AC (hint: the same level of bilingualism is not required for WestJet, Flair, other airlines)? Part of converting AC from a crown corp to a private enterprise involved codifying certain government provisions into their contract of carriage. I don't consider it 'principled' to get an airline to comply with the contract of carriage, and I imagine you don't either. I would appreciate if you treated the concerns of that passenger with the same level of seriousness of someone alleging they were bumped from a flight with a confirmed ticket.
(Also, what a great dog-whistle article to find your Canadian readers that harbour animous towards the other founding people of Canada...because they're the majority? ...because they hate learning? ...because they're annoyed that passenger service announcements are said twice (once in a language they should, but don't understand) ....because they don't feel special since English is predominantly spoken in the US too? I'm trying to empathize with all these hateful comments but I'm struggling. )
I'm a native English and French speaker, and, if there's one thing I've learned watching the American circus to the south these past couple of years, it's that if you don't use a right, you lose it. Here's to a bilingual Canada and, if Air Canada wants to keep that name, it needs to be bilingual too.
While I can understand this being inconvenient, there were two attendants that could have provided interpretation. I feel this gentleman is nothing more than a perturbateur de merde and I say this as an Anglo who recently was told by a Quebec gas station attendant near Montreal that the washroom was broken, in english (after asking if I could have the key, in english). The key had just been returned by a french speaking (bilingual)...
While I can understand this being inconvenient, there were two attendants that could have provided interpretation. I feel this gentleman is nothing more than a perturbateur de merde and I say this as an Anglo who recently was told by a Quebec gas station attendant near Montreal that the washroom was broken, in english (after asking if I could have the key, in english). The key had just been returned by a french speaking (bilingual) passenger in my car. It was broken for English speakers. The behaviour of the attendant embarrassed my friend for her bigoted behaviour.
I have travelled around the world and have communicated with many individual who spoke various languages in any way we could.
This behaviour only serves to make Quebecers look bad - I don't feel sorry for him, I feel sorry for the intelligent and worldly Quebecers I have met.
The man was a trouble maker, if he was so mistreated why didn't he get off.
He speaks English, there was bilingual staff to assist him when gets to Florida does he expect the cashier to speak to him in French? The rest of the world uses English as second language with Quebec stopping people from learning English they are harming themselves! Fly Quebec Air, everyday flights to Gaspé, Chicoutimi Îles de la Madeleine, no English there!!!!
So basically this douche is angry the services director didn't want to learn English, because, as with most french speakers, they hate English. Feel like I transported to Paris in this story.
What is it with this society demanding they always have things their personal way or they cause trouble. Was he in his 20s?
I am so tired of this bullshit. The man could speak English so why does he have to be such an ass. Tell me if I walked into a store in Montreal and the clerks could only speak French and I could not...Do you think I would sue them? Get a life! Grow up! Not everyone has the opportunity or ability to learn new
languages. Idiot
Fauteur de troubles ignorant!!
What a francophone baby. Quebecois are so spoiled, if it doesn't go their way...!!!
Nailed it...
LOL, you say 'what a francophone' like the language you speak imbues certain characteristics on them.
I'd love to learn more from you about my characteristics as a French-speaker; I was unaware that I was a spoiled person, but I'm sure you have more interesting details that I'm unaware of too. Also, I'd love to hear about the characteristics I have because I also speak English, Portugués, Mandarin, and Spanish.
I thought I knew...
LOL, you say 'what a francophone' like the language you speak imbues certain characteristics on them.
I'd love to learn more from you about my characteristics as a French-speaker; I was unaware that I was a spoiled person, but I'm sure you have more interesting details that I'm unaware of too. Also, I'd love to hear about the characteristics I have because I also speak English, Portugués, Mandarin, and Spanish.
I thought I knew myself, but I think I've got a lot to learn from you. After you've told me my personality based on the languages I speak, I'd love for you to tell me about my horoscope.
Even though he speaks English, this individual claims that they are not bilingual.What about the fact that all the signage in the province of Quebec are in French only, whereas those in Ontario are bilingual? Why is that the case?
Yeah try saying that kind of stuff about women or natives see how that flies.
Before judging, imagine the sides were reversed:
You are an English speaking Canadian who can understand some limited French, flying from Vancouver to Montreal on Air Canada in business class. Flight attendant in business class only speaks French. You ask to be served in English, but they tell you in French that the other two flight attendants who speak English are serving economy class, and will not be available to you. So your choice is...
Before judging, imagine the sides were reversed:
You are an English speaking Canadian who can understand some limited French, flying from Vancouver to Montreal on Air Canada in business class. Flight attendant in business class only speaks French. You ask to be served in English, but they tell you in French that the other two flight attendants who speak English are serving economy class, and will not be available to you. So your choice is speaking French only, or take another flight. So you are not served in your native English language in your home country despite the law, and forced to speak French for the duration of the flight.
Your thoughts of that situation?
It wouldn’t happen as they all speak English, although understand the analogy.
It is my understanding that it is only your right to be served in your choice of official language with government offices/services. Air Canada is neither, and therefore this law does not apply.
You should do a little bit of research about the history of Air Canada — your understanding about the distinction is incorrect.
I guess somehow I'd manage to get through my flight without the long, fascinating conversations I usually have with flight attendants.
Very effective analogy. Thank you. This is not about wining etc in my opinion it is about a large corporation breaking the law and trying to get away with it. Today the language law tomorrow passenger safety laws?...who knows!
This passenger and Quebec need to get over themselves. It used to be two languages in Canada French and English. Now there are so many languages we could lose count. People have the right to use any language they prefer and if not everybody understands you then you must problem solve your communication skills.
I'll be sure to forward your smart suggestion to the people of Québec. However, I know that before they can get over themselves, we need your help untangling some other questions. Could you help us with:
-The British North America Act
-The Articles of Confederation
-The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
And
-The Air Canada Incorporation documents
While we've been trying in earnest to get over ourselves for a...
I'll be sure to forward your smart suggestion to the people of Québec. However, I know that before they can get over themselves, we need your help untangling some other questions. Could you help us with:
-The British North America Act
-The Articles of Confederation
-The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
And
-The Air Canada Incorporation documents
While we've been trying in earnest to get over ourselves for a while now, we can't seem to be able to do it —namely because of a couple hundred years of history and a lot of legal documentation that tells prevents us from "getting over ourselves."
Thoughts?
Get over yourself.
I believe the gentlemen was stubborn and when told they will get someone to speak French to him he wanted that person to speak French witch she could not.when he arrives at his destination what will they speak to him.
He got caught in a nasty situation and want to prove a point (sorry the world does not work like that! Does he want the pilot to speak French to
He is a serial complainer and all known in the industry. Simply looking for ways to make cash. Would be easier to blacklist him.
Now, getting them to respect Indigenous cultures, traditions and languages... that is whole another story. Carte blanche much?
LOL
Yeah, québécois can be racist and xenophobic, but that's not how laws work. Next, do we invalidate women's rights because they can be misogynistic sometimes?
Instead, it's not an 'or' but an 'and': we need to preserve French and indigenous culture, both in the province of Québec and the rest of Canada.
I don't understand why Canada doesn't just invest in creating an actual bilingual country and force schools to teach in both languages to a decent standard.
Yes, Every child should be learning french & english in school
The rest of Canada shouldn’t cow tow to Quebec. Quebec is the only francophone province. Almost 80pct of the Canadian population don’t speak it as a first language.
Stats of French speakers
Newfoundland 0.5%
Ontario 4.1%
British Columbia 1.4%
Alberta 2%
More than 4 x as many people in British Columbia speak Asian languages so why not make Punjabi or mandarin official?
'..why not make Punjabi or mandarin official?'
How to tell everyone that you don't speak French and know nothing about Canadian history or law without telling everyone you don't speak French and know nothing about Canadian history and law.
T’es un connard
Probably more than you would ever know.
Duh!! No French-only flight attendants at Air Canada. The unilingual FA's came from mergers or acquisitions...a dying breed. The current requirement is English and language-qualified.....a second language. Air Canada serves the world so requires FA's capable of speaking Hindi; Mandarin; Greek; German...etc.
Vous comprenez?
I have lived in Quebec for 30 plus years coming from another province, and if you are from another country the gouv will pay you to learn French. It will cost me thousands of dollars for a course in Lac St. Jean because I am a Canadian. Every time I attempt to speak French here, people hear my accent and immediately switch to English. How can an English person learn French when there is no...
I have lived in Quebec for 30 plus years coming from another province, and if you are from another country the gouv will pay you to learn French. It will cost me thousands of dollars for a course in Lac St. Jean because I am a Canadian. Every time I attempt to speak French here, people hear my accent and immediately switch to English. How can an English person learn French when there is no help, and why do Francophones get so upset when others want them to speak English when they can? I really do not understand what French Quebecers want. Stop forcing the language down people's throats and provide instruction to your population. I believe the vast majority of English people living here would love to have better French skills. And, when I am in a situation where I am forced to speak French, I love the opportunity to practice and I feel proud that I can communicate in French (the little that I know). This guy is a piece of work and is doing nothing good for his own language, people, or province.
If he has a problem with air canada.... He surely will have a problem in Ft Lauderdale....
And what about that flight agent in Quebec City?
oh right… double standard…
It may be more difficult in finding enough staff who can speak in both languages when you consider that most people in the middle and western provinces are not really taught French well enough to be fluent in French. When I grew up in BC, we had 45 minutes once a week in French. I am sort of impressed they had 2 out 3 who speak French. Of they made it mandatory that everyone speaks...
It may be more difficult in finding enough staff who can speak in both languages when you consider that most people in the middle and western provinces are not really taught French well enough to be fluent in French. When I grew up in BC, we had 45 minutes once a week in French. I am sort of impressed they had 2 out 3 who speak French. Of they made it mandatory that everyone speaks French then they might not be able to staff the planes and this fellow may not be able to get a flight next time. So you may have to take diminished service over no service.
Not every single FA is required to speak French. But if someone asks to served in French, you need to accommodate.
Similar to a Francophone asking to be served in French at Vancouver airport. Obviously not every single employee speaks French, but they will assign that person to the person able to speak French on the floor at that moment.
And not all flights are required to have service in French. The ones from Quebec City do for obvious reasons.
This passenger was just being someone who wanted to cause a problem. I am not in his court at all!!!
Or maybe he wanted to have the service he paid for?
If you book a $1,200 course or tour in English and once there it’s not in English, you would just shut up about it and be happy to not have received what you paid for?
Much as AC can be really annoying (late flights, poor food, old and uncomfortable planes), in this case the passenger is clearly an idiot....
The customer is an idiot.
Typical Pepsi trouble maker,visit Quebec as a tourist with no French and you will receive no help from locals, they all think that they are European French. Me being from Ontario and learned the language in French immersion classes in school can get by when I visited in my youth. If Quebecers want to separate, let them,the majority still vote no,as far as I'm concerned just build the bridge directly to the east coast of true Canada
Sigh .. Where to begin ...
it has been a long while. since I've visited Quebec but the last time I visited the francophone canadians were pretty generous to me (I am primarily anglophone but I have working knowledge of a few. other languages, not including French).
To speak both French and English is a great ability. Anyone would be proud to communicate in either st any time. In Europe, the Middle East and in Asia most people think nothing about their ability to speak several languages and communicate that way. I can’t understand why people get offended in this French/English country and make a mountain out of a mole hill
Waaahhh
Personally I have a lot of passenger hours with various airlines and Air Canada rates credit for Excellent service.
I agree with most of the analysis but it is really off base to equate this to gun rights in the US. The language rights exist to reduce discrimination and protect the culture of a minority group. I don't think you are suggesting that US gun owners are a downtrodden minority?
Gun owners are downtrodden minority who believes they, a militia, have what is necessary to the security of a free State.
Gun owners believe they can defend the security of a free state against ICBM, cruise missiles, or tanks.
What happen to all the guns defending the free state when some young adult leaked classified intel that we are spying on our allies and enemy?
Wrong. Some gun owners just like guns and love to go target practice. Also Vietnam, Afghanistan and a few others beat the crap out of superior forces.
As for the leak of classified intel Hillary Trump and Biden were all sloppy with classified information, yet none got punished. No punishment means that some kid feels he can leak intel also/.
Interesting how in Canada, the French try to impose their preferred language on the rest of the English-speaking country, yet once you get to Quebec there's no English visible and some people pretend they can't speak it. Quebecers have a real inferiority complex, and should seek therapy. As for this guy, he obviously spoke English, so he was just looking for an excuse to make a big deal out of nothing.
Took the words right out of my mouth! Exactly!
Er uhh, did you just compare the Federal Government (Canada) to a single province (Québec)? I'd suggest taking a look at the language laws of the other nine provinces and three territories before you start announcing how they all are in contrast with Québec (you're in for a few surprises, but I'll give you a freebee: there's only one bilingual province).
Trans canada highway investment by Canadian taxpayers and no English signs talk about le gateau and eat it to.
How is asking to be served in French in Quebec City imposing language on others?
And if they were imposing languages, how come the multi-years-experienced FA in business section didn’t even know the few repetitive sentences they always use in flights in French by now?
This is an Air CANADA flight, not an Air Quebec airline. Perhaps these arrogant customers should start up their own airline!
Air Canada is a company based in Quebec, which operates as a national airline within Canada, a bilingual country. As per federal laws and since Air Canada mainly represents Canada as a bilingual country, they are required to provide service in both official language. This doesn't mean that every single crew member need to speak French, is it enough that just one speaks French and check with the customer if there is anything he needs...
Air Canada is a company based in Quebec, which operates as a national airline within Canada, a bilingual country. As per federal laws and since Air Canada mainly represents Canada as a bilingual country, they are required to provide service in both official language. This doesn't mean that every single crew member need to speak French, is it enough that just one speaks French and check with the customer if there is anything he needs or be available for the customer if he needs to require their attention.
I have to be honest, when I traveled with Air Canada across Canada (other than Quebec) or on other international flight not involving Quebec, I often little to no service in French. However, when either the origin or a destination is a city in Quebec, you would expect at least some service in French or to be able to get served in French upon request.
I find much more arrogant for the Airline not to respect the law and passengers right. An airline (or any other company) that doesn't respect passengers and federal laws on an aspect like this, will very likely not respect passengers to recognize other rights. And we all know that often Air Canada has not respected passengers for things like compensation, cancelations, delays, etc. To me the passenger was only concerned of making sure that some basic principles were respected.
This is false. Air Canada has an exemption from the language charter and is not required by law to provide services in French.
Except Air Canada did respect the law. There were 3 flight attendants, 2 of them spoke French. This man wanted to pick a fight, he got it.
Air Canada doesn't need to just have people speaking French in their crew, but it needs to provide service in French. The crew members speaking French were not assigned to the business class, where the customer was sitting, and they refused having any French speaking crew members getting into business class. As a result, he was unable to get served in French. This makes Air Canada lack of compliance with rule even worse, because despite...
Air Canada doesn't need to just have people speaking French in their crew, but it needs to provide service in French. The crew members speaking French were not assigned to the business class, where the customer was sitting, and they refused having any French speaking crew members getting into business class. As a result, he was unable to get served in French. This makes Air Canada lack of compliance with rule even worse, because despite their ability to provide service in French, they just decided not to do that.
Beaudoin has previously launched multiple lawsuits against Air Canada over this issue. My favorites include that the seat belt only says "LIFT" in English, and the letters "EXIT" are larger than "SORTIE" over the emergency exit on the French made Airbus. But there have also been multiples where he instigates a run in with an Anglo employee and then sues. These are well documented in the media.
This guy is clearly vexatious and does this...
Beaudoin has previously launched multiple lawsuits against Air Canada over this issue. My favorites include that the seat belt only says "LIFT" in English, and the letters "EXIT" are larger than "SORTIE" over the emergency exit on the French made Airbus. But there have also been multiples where he instigates a run in with an Anglo employee and then sues. These are well documented in the media.
This guy is clearly vexatious and does this over and over, any time he can isolate an English speaking Air Canada employee. What this is is discrimination against Anglo employment and advancement. He was served, he was offered translation, he was offered another flight, all announcements are in English/French.
If ever someone should be added to the No-Fly-List, this is the guy.
And these laws only apply to Air Canada under the Air Canada Public Participation Act. Not Westjet. Not Transat even. Bad legislation.
Oh yes. It’s him. He’s an absolute trou du cul. He probably wouldn’t be understood in France.
Wasn't Air Canada a Crown Corporation - hence the ACPPA? The flight originated in YQB so there should be a base level expectation that service would be in French - sans question!
Was this the guy that expected French speakers in Atlanta at Air Canada check-in?
But to be fair, is he the reason why AC has green exit pictograms instead of "EXIT/SORTIE" for their emergency exits? And yet Air France's aircraft say "EXIT" - selon leur video de securite.
Tabarnak ! Canadians are just as litigious as their neighbours. How was he affected ? Mentally damaged. Abused. Discriminated against.
In fact contrary to popular belief, I find many extremely unpleasant. Almost everyone is bilingual and it’s purely a Quebec thing. You wouldn’t expect indigenous people or residents of British Colombia or Alberta to speak French.
Sounds like he was being difficult and just looking for a way to get some sort...
Tabarnak ! Canadians are just as litigious as their neighbours. How was he affected ? Mentally damaged. Abused. Discriminated against.
In fact contrary to popular belief, I find many extremely unpleasant. Almost everyone is bilingual and it’s purely a Quebec thing. You wouldn’t expect indigenous people or residents of British Colombia or Alberta to speak French.
Sounds like he was being difficult and just looking for a way to get some sort of compensation. Faire du train.
Québécois ( that’s what it should be called) was available and he was taking advantage of the fact one crew member didn’t speak it. And he was travelling to fort Lauderdale so assume he speaks English and Spanish, or will he only speak québécois locally ? Tiguidou
The fact that he's flying to Florida, doesn't mean he should give up to his rights to be served in French by a Canadian Air Line based in Quebec on a flight departing from Quebec. You probably have never traveled internationally, but if you fly on any flight between two countries speaking different languages, there is always somebody in the crew speaking either of the two language, in addition to English. In this case, other...
The fact that he's flying to Florida, doesn't mean he should give up to his rights to be served in French by a Canadian Air Line based in Quebec on a flight departing from Quebec. You probably have never traveled internationally, but if you fly on any flight between two countries speaking different languages, there is always somebody in the crew speaking either of the two language, in addition to English. In this case, other than this common sense rule, he has on his side the federal law that says that he should be served in either English or French. This applies even if the flight is going to Florida. Nobody should give up to their rights as a passenger. This would mean justifying Air Canada for their lack of compliance to any passenger rights.
"Oh god, my rights, my rights..." First world problems!
Also, I'm sure there's more to the story the the poor old mans rights "not" being honored. FA's don't have the time to deal with douche bags like J-P so in order to just move on, I'm she would have gotten someone else to check on this loser, but I guess, that wasn't good enough.
Not a lot of transport carriers in Canada are forced by law to provide bilingual service. At the end of the day it is up to the company to decide if they want to honor the bilingual service and make it a strength or make it a joke. Clearly, the other transporter, Via Rail, made it clear that bilingual service is a strength and they do it right.
As a 100% deaf passenger, I have no sympathy for this guy. I very rarely encounter any airline employee who knows ASL, but I have pen and paper, an app on my phone, I read lips, and STILL manage to be AA Platinum Pro. I never expect employees or other passengers to bend to my disability, and it is always a nice surprise when someone does know how to communicate with me in my preferred...
As a 100% deaf passenger, I have no sympathy for this guy. I very rarely encounter any airline employee who knows ASL, but I have pen and paper, an app on my phone, I read lips, and STILL manage to be AA Platinum Pro. I never expect employees or other passengers to bend to my disability, and it is always a nice surprise when someone does know how to communicate with me in my preferred "language". The world does not revolve around me, or any other single person, and it would be a much better place if others recognized this as well.
Surprising how many people believe all sign language is the same. It’s difficult enough having someone use say Italian sign language at an airport so they wouldn’t expect it in say Greece.
I am living in Québec and speak very little French as I came from Alberta, I agree with the passenger as this was his right, and should have accommodate as per the rules, however the passenger not taking another flight I don't see any relation to the situation as it is the Airlines duty to rectify the situation even if it means some disruption to them, the passenger should not need to be inconvenienced because...
I am living in Québec and speak very little French as I came from Alberta, I agree with the passenger as this was his right, and should have accommodate as per the rules, however the passenger not taking another flight I don't see any relation to the situation as it is the Airlines duty to rectify the situation even if it means some disruption to them, the passenger should not need to be inconvenienced because of the incompetence of the airline not adhere to the policies.
The fact is that the crew did speak French. / Québécois. He claims discrimination because one didn’t. He/she should sue him for discrimination. Perhaps that crew member spoke other languages.
He was not complaining because one person did not speak French to him, he was complaining because he could not be served in French. Based on the article, it seems like on the plane there was crew available to speak French, but not to him, because he was on business class, and usually there is only one assigned crew member in business, who in this case was unable to speak French.
I'm pretty sure he...
He was not complaining because one person did not speak French to him, he was complaining because he could not be served in French. Based on the article, it seems like on the plane there was crew available to speak French, but not to him, because he was on business class, and usually there is only one assigned crew member in business, who in this case was unable to speak French.
I'm pretty sure he was not looking for somebody to speak to him at a high proficiency of French, but at least be able to understand answer basic questions. Even if the crew was speaking other languages, that is not a requirement. The requirement is that customers can be served in either English or French.
I would feel equally outraged if I would board a plane and nobody could speak to me in English, especially if I'm in my home country where English is an official language.
Your statement isn't correct. I think you need to read the scenario again. It is, after all, in plain English.
And another thing, good on ther other pax for not standing up for him.
This flight offered the passenger the valuable opportunity to practice speaking English, which he'll be doing exclusively once he arrives in Florida (unless he speaks Spanish).
And the FA was offered the valuable opportunity to practice French as a FA in a bilingual country and in Quebec City which is more francophone than FLL is anglophone!
This guy may have the law on his side, but he's still a douchebag.
And how is the flight attendant that has been servicing on Air Canada for years and never bothered to learn to say « what can I serve you? » in French after all these years not a douchebag?
Canada would be so much better off without Quebec. Time to cut them loose and end this nonsense for once and all. Ain't nobody in Canada got time to deal with behavior such as shown by this passenger. What a drag for the country.
Just like the US needs to ditch CA.
Just like the US needs to ditch Florida and Texas
Can't touch CA.
CA is known to cause cancer and birth defects warnings.
No it is his right, no excuse for not being served in French But this is the same all over.
He was offered to be served in French. He chose not to be.
Way to work in that the constitution isn't something that matters to you, coward.
This passenger needs to get off his high horse!
Give me a break
AC was in the wrong here. How would an English-speaker feel if they walked onto a Southwest Airlines flight in Boston and were forced to speak Spanish? Probably insulted and outraged. The guy was right to demand what the law provided.
Keep in mind that they speak English on Southwest; although Spanish if asked nicely.
What was required by the law WAS provided. This was just a quebecois douche.
That's a terrible analogy. Spanish is not an "official" language of the USA (though it is extremely useful). That said, let's just all drop the idea that French is "equal" to English in Canada. Only 1/4 of Canadians say "oui" to French as their primary language. Their currency is full of images of Queen Elizabeth as well. Canadians need to just settle down and accept their role as the USA's northern stepchild.
The US has no official language. It is simply assumed by many based on the fact the constitution was written in English.
Spanish however, is spoken by over 50 million and is a majority language in many regions.
Indeed french/ Québécois is only dominant in Quebec. It is more or less useless in British Columbia.
English isn't the official language either as there is no national language in the US. English is simply the de facto due to its popularity.
It is my understanding that it is only your right to be served in your choice of official language with government offices/services. Air Canada is neither, and therefore this law does not apply.
Have you taken the time to read many of the informed posts that preceded yours?
There were 3 flight attendants 2 of whom were bilingual. Your purported analogy fails. Service en francais was available but this passenger demanded that the in-charge who was not bilingual communicate in French.
As another poster noted.....all highway signs in Ontario are in english and french. As soon as you cross the border to Quebec, all signs are...
Have you taken the time to read many of the informed posts that preceded yours?
There were 3 flight attendants 2 of whom were bilingual. Your purported analogy fails. Service en francais was available but this passenger demanded that the in-charge who was not bilingual communicate in French.
As another poster noted.....all highway signs in Ontario are in english and french. As soon as you cross the border to Quebec, all signs are ONLY in French. This is a one-way street!!
We have the right to be offended.
I believe no minority should ever complain about being treated as inferior.
They should just accept that men, whites, heterosexuals and anglophones are superior and shouldn’t bother them to make efforts.
Women, gays, non-anglos and non-white should just adapt on how the superior ones want them to behave.
(it’s sarcasm)
Ok I think I understand how this is supposed to work and I understand that the customer has the right to be spoken to in French. BUT, if you are bilingual and speak both languages, how about just don't be a tool and let the FA speak English to you. What a stupid thing to cause a scene over. Sit down, be quiet, and quit being a little b**ch :-)
You would not have this "Just suck it up" approach if it came to a legal situation you actually cared about. So maybe try to have some empathy.
That'd be one thing if the guy only spoke French and absolutely could not converse in English but he doesn't. He speaks and understands both languages so yes, suck it up!
This why Canadian laws are absolutely nuts. What if the flight attendant was mute? Would that violate his linguistic rights, her the FA’s right to work?
Personally, I believe it's important for Quebeckers to take a principled stand to protect their linguistic rights. I can understand how English-speaking folks (like me) can see this as needlessly confrontational and lacking understanding, but it's folks like Mr. Beaudoin who are responsible for guarding French's place as a co-official language of Canada (and by the way, the *only* official language of Quebec).
It's for the same reasons that Quebec has very strict laws regarding...
Personally, I believe it's important for Quebeckers to take a principled stand to protect their linguistic rights. I can understand how English-speaking folks (like me) can see this as needlessly confrontational and lacking understanding, but it's folks like Mr. Beaudoin who are responsible for guarding French's place as a co-official language of Canada (and by the way, the *only* official language of Quebec).
It's for the same reasons that Quebec has very strict laws regarding signage and access to service in the French language. The fact is that a monolingual English speaker can get by just fine in most parts of Quebec... but the same can't be said of a monolingual francophone in the other provinces of Canada.
This. Yet somehow those usually trumpeting every "woke" cause are suddemly a-okay when it comes to eventually erasing other languages (than their own)
It is needless confrontation because the pax is bilingual and understands English just fine. I get that he has "linguistic rights" but if you can communicate with your FA just fine, then why cause a scene?
Does he know deaf people are able to fly and can’t understand any spoken language? This guy is a scumbag. Perhaps these linguistic “rights” are important when visiting a doctor or attending university, but this is a flight. Just point to your drink and stfu.
The language laws here are discriminatory towards the anglophone minority and are a source of resentment and friction in the province. I believe that French is worth protecting. As someone who grew up in Quebec I feel grateful to have learned it and consider it an asset. That being said the government treats the language issue as a zero sum game, which it is not. They don't even try to encourage the use of French...
The language laws here are discriminatory towards the anglophone minority and are a source of resentment and friction in the province. I believe that French is worth protecting. As someone who grew up in Quebec I feel grateful to have learned it and consider it an asset. That being said the government treats the language issue as a zero sum game, which it is not. They don't even try to encourage the use of French through less punitive measures. They resort to sticks without even trying carrots first. That leaves many English Quebeckers feeling that they don't matter.
This guy sounds petty and childish. If being able to be served in French was such a big deal he shouldn't have been heading to Florida. This kind of behaviour is common in older generations. Younger generations tend it jump at the chance to practice English because they know that it opens more doors for them in life.
So Jean-Pierre Beaudoin, seemingly a grumpy old man, is upset that the FA wouldn’t speak to him in fake French.
He needs a hobby if this makes him “boil inside.”
It's not fake French any more than the English spoken in America is fake English.
Air Canada's fault. It's a flight from YQB, why would you assign an English-only speaking crew there in the first place?
They didn't. Try some reading comprehension.
Pierre needs to get a life.
Ben, it is correct that this passenger has every right to be served in his choice of language (F or E). No excuse is required. Not every FA has to be able to speak both national languages, but he has every right to be spoken with in his language. If I was flying out of Quebec, I'd sure want to be addressed and served in English. Although he is seated in the Business cabin, he...
Ben, it is correct that this passenger has every right to be served in his choice of language (F or E). No excuse is required. Not every FA has to be able to speak both national languages, but he has every right to be spoken with in his language. If I was flying out of Quebec, I'd sure want to be addressed and served in English. Although he is seated in the Business cabin, he has the same right as the 150-ish people seated in Economy to have this access. After all, if not on a flight out of Quebec, then when?
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To compare his situation to the American gun situation is plain rude.
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By the way, I do hope that this passenger would have been required by the government language watchdog to make his complaint to AC first for their response.
Irrelevant comparison to guns. Gun-carrying Chipotle customers do NOT demand that every customer including gun-control activists carry gun into Chipotle.
Oh, Canada.
The guy is an entitled a-hole.
The French hate the French Canadians and see them as inferior so it’s funny that so many ppl in Quebec etc worship France and French.
"Worship France and French?" Read your history primer, Mon. That just doesn't make any sense.
Oh I know my history, but perhaps you need to get in touch with modern life. Have friends in both places and its very accurate. Those in French Canada worship French everything, love going there and then complain non-stop on how the French look down on them and can tell their aren't speaking "real French" so they get treated like crap. And yet they go back time and time again.
It may not be fair to paint a broad brush, but in this case, I think it's true. I have 2 close friends in Paris and Bordeaux who have told me this.
Thank you for making this point. The people I know from France that have traveled or met Canadians laugh and make fun of them.
This is all his own account. I find serious issues even in this likely (heavily) biased version of the events.
- If he was so "principled", he should've just deplaned when he claims he was told "be served in English or get deplaned". Instead he chose to speak English the entire flight so as not to get deplaned.
- Why would be pick a fight, then expect other passengers to step in and...
This is all his own account. I find serious issues even in this likely (heavily) biased version of the events.
- If he was so "principled", he should've just deplaned when he claims he was told "be served in English or get deplaned". Instead he chose to speak English the entire flight so as not to get deplaned.
- Why would be pick a fight, then expect other passengers to step in and help him?
- It's one thing to not trust a complaint process, but to not even file it first before escalating?
- In AC's version of the event, he was offered service from one of the French speaking FAs, but this is he said, she said. I can totally see AC inventing facts, but I can also see this guy, who clearly has a bone to pick, to do the same.
Does it matter?
Air Canada is garbage in both official languages...
Nope, he spoke french and was answered in english the whole flight. He booked in french, shopped in french, checked in in french, he had french service all the way to his seat, then was told he wont anymore but other passengers would. You can twist this all you want, air canada will get fined for breaking the law.
This reinforces English Canadian stereotypes of some French Canadians being snobby and entitled. As much as I harp on AC, I take their side. No one has a right that all crew speak French on every flight.