Quebec Premier François Legault says his government will work to identify presidents of companies based in the province who do not speak French and will try to persuade them to learn the language.
His comments came in reaction to recent admissions by CEOs of two large Montreal companies that they speak little French.
Legault said Quebec business leaders should be able to speak the majority language in the province, adding that his government “is considering different approaches to ensure this.”
Ian Edwards, head of engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, canceled an upcoming speech to a local business group on Thursday, saying he wanted time to improve his French.
In a letter to the Canadian Club of Montreal, Edwards said he does not speak French well, although he has lived in Quebec since 2014.
The move came after Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau spoke little French in a November 3 speech to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and then told reporters he didn’t need to. ” learn the language to get by in Quebec’s largest city. His comments drew strong condemnation from politicians and media experts across the province.
Legault said on Friday he believed the two CEOs did not represent the majority of Quebec’s business elite.
“I think the vast majority of business presidents in Quebec are able to speak French,” Legault told reporters in Shawinigan, Que, where he announced an economic plan that he said would help close the gap. wealth between Quebec and Ontario.
He has promised to work with the “small minority” of business leaders in the province who do not. “We must act with this small minority, to help them, support them, convince them,” he said.
Legault indicated that he would also meet with Charles Émond, President and CEO of the Quebec deposit and placement fund, the manager of the public pension fund of Quebec and the largest investor in SNC-Lavalin, to know if the fund has a role to play in the promotion of French among the leaders of the Quebec companies in which it invests.
“The Caisse has a social responsibility,” said Legault, whose government has made the promotion of the French language a priority.
Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland called on Air Canada’s board of directors to make communication in French an ‘important criterion’ for senior management and to integrate improving French skills de Rousseau in its annual evaluation. The airline is subject to the Official Languages Act.
In his response to the minister, Air Canada President Vagn Sorensen said Rousseau had started intensive French lessons. Knowledge of the CEO’s language, Sorensen wrote in French, will “be an integral part of his performance appraisal.”
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