Folks,

Air Canada has announced that CEO Michael Rousseau will retire by the end of September after nearly twenty years with the airline.

This resignation comes just a week after he made headlines for issuing an English-only message of condolence following the crash of Flight 8646 in New York.

Now let’s be honest here.

He could have asked a spokesperson to deliver that message. Instead, he chose to do it himself. And if I were a member of one of those pilots’ families, I would want to hear directly from the boss…not from a slick communications staffer reading a script.

But timing matters.

There’s a byelection coming up in Quebec, and Rousseau appears to be a casualty of that political reality.

Instead of focusing on the victims, Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly criticized Rousseau, saying he showed a “lack of judgment” and a “lack of compassion.”

That’s strong language.

Especially when Carney himself has had public stumbles in French. During a French Liberal leadership debate, he mistakenly said all four candidates “agreed with Hamas” instead of “agreed regarding Hamas.” In another speech, he incorrectly identified Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost as a survivor of the Concordia University massacre rather than the Polytechnique Montréal massacre.

Meanwhile, Yves-François Blanchet called for Rousseau to be fired, calling the video a “sad and gross lack of respect” for the families of pilot Antoine Forest.

Here’s the problem: both Carney and Blanchet are turning this tragedy into a political distraction. The focus must remain on the victims and their families.

They remain in my thoughts and prayers.

Rousseau says he has been taking French classes for four years. And let’s face it… some people are great with math but struggle with second languages. Others can paint beautiful portraits but can’t play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on the piano. Different skills, different strengths.

Bottom line: There may be valid, performance-based reasons for Rousseau to step down. But delivering a condolence message in English should not be the defining one.

And here’s a fair question worth asking:

Does the Liberal-appointed Governor General speak fluent French? Worth thinking about.