Canada corporate bosses should speak 'both official languages': FM

Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, France: All Canadian leaders, including corporate bosses, should speak both official languages of English and French, the f...

Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay, France: All Canadian leaders, including corporate bosses, should speak both official languages of English and French, the foreign minister said Thursday, after the Air Canada CEO failed to issue a condolence message in French for a fatal airport disaster.

Two pilots were killed in the deadly collision late Sunday between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

According to media reports, one of the pilots killed was from French-speaking Quebec.

But in the video message to express condolences, Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau used only English, sparking controversy.

"Canada is a bilingual country," Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told AFP on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers meeting in France, repeating the same phrase in French: "Le Canada est un pays bilingue."