An Ottawa couple have successfully sued Air Canada for CA$12,000 for failing to serve them in French.
Michel Thibodeau and his wife, Lynda – who are both bilingual – said their requests for service in French were denied on two flights they took between Ottawa and the US in 2009, with Air Canada and regional partner airline, Jazz.
Mr Thibodeau sued the airline on the grounds that Air Canada had breached the Official Languages Act, by failing to provide services in both English and French when there is a significant demand in the minority language. The Canadian law gives English and French equal status.
In court, Mr Thibodeau said they were only served in English throughout the entire journey from check-in to the flight, recalling one instance when a flight attendant did not serve his request in French for a 7-Up.
The couple had sought CA$25,000 each in compensation, plus $500,000 in punitive damages, based on their claim that Air Canada’s language breaches were systemic.
Air Canada admitted to the court on Wednesday it is not always able to provide all services in French, but that breaches of the Act occasionally happen are not a systemic problem.
Federal Court judge, Justice Marie-Joseé Bédard ordered Air Canada to pay the couple CA$12,000 in compensation and apologise. The Judge did not grant punitive damages because she said Air Canada had tried to meet its language obligations.
As of March 15, 2010, 47 per cent of Air Canada’s flight attendants were bilingual and about one-quarter of its airport employees were in customer-facing roles.
Responding to the Judge’s verdict, Mr Thibodeau was quoted in the Globe and Mail newspaper saying: “I’m a little bit disappointed with the lower amount awarded. But the positive note is that the court recognised our rights were violated on several occasions.”
According to the newspaper, this is the second time Mr Thibodeau has sued Air Canada over its language services. He is also understood to have sued the airline in 2000 when a flight attendant was unable to serve him in French on a flight from Ottawa to Montreal.
Blooming Eck..this is getting stupid now
Canada has spent Billions on this ridiculous language issue. Canada has LOST Billions of investment dollars due to this language issue. Quebec has lost Billions of dollars of investment due to its desire to separate from Canada and become a third world-type economy in North America. Only Canada has the luxury of such an arrogant waste of time of something so divisive to it’s unity. What a shame & embarrassment. Look at where it has taken Canada ! No one is Quebec will provide you with service in English (even if they can) yet everything must be bilingual to please the french speakers (or as you can see they will sue).
I always thought that there is free speech , freedom and free enterprise in Canada. So this case could be lodged in court is a surprise. For the complainant to win it is shocking. Isn’t there such a thing called frivolous which means it will be thrown out of court instantly? I think the judges head ought to be checked by a psychiatrist.
This couple is just trying to make someone else pay for their holidays. In Quebec you are more often than not served in French, something I don’t mind. Since the couple is bilingual it is obvious to me that this is just a frivolous attempt to get extra income. The judge should have thrown the book at them. I’m sorry that they got any reward at all.
What a couple of idiots, it’s reasons like this why the french get a bad name. As a French Canadian quite frankly I’m embarrassed.
This seems to me like a case of him just trying to provoke the airline in order to sue, the amount of CA$500,00 is absurd.Perhaps Air Canada should refuse to carry him and his wife in future,in law they have every right not to carry passengers who may be disruptive !
I hope that couple’s time on this planet is terminated soon. It is people like them who waste space that compassionate human beings could use.
Reminds me of a unruly child – just because he thinks he deserves to be treated differently – he throws a tantrum – how mature! It shows a complete disrespect towards some of the hardest working people in the industry.
How convenient for him that they assigned his case to a French judge. Maybe he threatened to sue if he didn’t get one? Wonder if he would have sued if it didn’t go his way. Ever try speaking English in Hawkesbury Ontario? I was raised as an anglophone also however my family is New Brunswick french not Quebec. We’re still French but we’re not fanatics about it. Don’t have much good to say about quebec french as I’ve found them as a whole to be the most arrogant people I’ve met. Thought you were going to separate. When’s that gonna happen. See ya. By the way, you owe Canada 40% of the National Debt. Pony up.
I just came back from Montreal, somewhere I had wanted to go for a long time. I wont go back. We were given wrong directions, no service in 2 different bars and I know it’s because we didn’t speak French. No, not all french people are ignorant, but the majority I met in my 5 days were arrogant and rude. The signs there were not in both languages & the subway was the worst experience of all. I am not suing any of there businesses even though our treatment was much worse than not being given a 7-up.
StatsCan eyes francophone conspiracy on bilingualism questionnaire
Full story: http://www.ottawacitizen.com
Agency suspects concerted Canada-wide effort to lie on forms to secure federal program funding
Thousands of francophones across Canada are believed to have lied about their ability to speak English in a seemingly co-ordinated attempt to manipulate the 2006 Census in order to guarantee federal funding of programs for francophones.
Statistics Canada has taken the unusual step of posting a warning on its website to caution users that the data on bilingualism rates for francophones outside Quebec may not be reliable. The suspected cause is an anonymous French-language e-mail that circulated across Canada prior to the census encouraging francophones to say they could not speak English even if they could. It said doing so would ensure the federal government would not cut services to francophones.
The resulting statistics showed for the first time ever an inexplicable decrease in the number of francophones outside Quebec who said they could speak English, reversing a long trend of increasing rates.
Time to re-visit the official languages act and scrap it.
How absurd is this? Really makes you question to what length people will go to find a way to sue. I think the airline should pay this couple off with airline peanuts
I found a site to discuss travel experiences like this and more at airlineslodgingetc com
I am sick of people like this. I am sick of bilingualism. I am sick of my hard earned tax dollars being wasted on this crap. If you can speak English as well as French then you do not deserve this judgement sir. The Tory Govt. needs to change these laws.
To all the stupid people out there: Your blind rage against french has just been revealed on a dud of your own.
As soon as you see “french” you go into a rage against Quebec.
This couple is from OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA. It has nothing to do with Quebec what so ever.
To the stupid people who think this is going to cost tax dollars…
Air Canada is a PRIVATE company. Yes it has be PRIVATIZED many years ago.
With that said, is this guy a complete moron, YES. Is he a greedy stupid guy YES, is it because he’s french? NO, unless you can prove to me that all english people in canada are saints.
On the other hand… how stupid can the hostess be!?!? can’t she hear “7up” amongst french babbling?
When you see french people in front of you, try to keep in mind that they are not the ones making language laws, stupid politicians are. And they are not the ones complaining about language, only a few morons are. And Morons can be of any language, any color, any belief.
I have to agree with this post, people of all languages are greedy, this man is exploiting his language for profit, and the ones that are the most angry are probably angry because they didnt think of it first, or cant speak french anyway lol.
I’d like to see the math behind the sum provided as compensation. What a joke this guy is.
Watch out Tim Hortons – this guy expects his coffee cold.
I agree with the previous comment.
Additionally, this sounds like a cash-grab on the part of the plaintifs (please don’t sue me for saying this… in English). $500,000 for damages? That’s a lot of money for a … how do say 7up in French??? Maybe he should sue them too!
This guy is the worst of the worst human scum.
I never get service in English in Quebec and if I tried to sue for that in quebec I would be pushed aside…Something has to be done to correct this bilingual issue so as not to corner English speaking people by using language as weapon against regular people as this case clearly demonstrates its being done.