Carney says Air Canada CEO’s English-only condolences lacked compassion

By Canadian Press on March 25, 2026.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says the Air Canada CEO’s English-only message of condolence after Sunday’s deadly crash in New York lacked compassion.

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau is being summoned to testify at the House of Commons official languages committee after he shared a four-minute condolence video online that only included two French words — “bonjour” and “merci.”

Antoine Forest, one of the two pilots killed in the crash at LaGuardia airport, was a French-speaking Quebecer.

Forest and Mackenzie Gunther died when the Air Canada Jazz flight they were landing at LaGuardia collided with a fire truck on the runway Sunday evening.

The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages had received 84 complaints about Rousseau’s video as of Tuesday afternoon.

Carney says Canadian officials continue to work in close collaboration with their American counterparts to determine how this crash happened.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2025.

— With files from Michel Saba.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press