Saturday morning I flew to Japan.
First leg of the flight: Montreal-Calgary.
Duration: Four and a half hours.
Airline: WestJet.
“What’s your problem?”
None of the staff could utter a single word of French.
Not one.
When the pilot spoke to the passengers (saying, for example, that we were about to enter a turbulence zone), it was in English.
When the flight attendants spoke to the passengers it was in English.
The only exception: a pre-recorded audio message on the French broadcast at very low volume during take-off and landing.
The rest are in English only.
I asked the employee who was serving the drinks for apple juice.
“What?” What do you want?
– Apple juice.
– I don’t know French.
When I pointed out to her (in her own language) that French is one of Canada’s two official languages, the flight attendant told me that was a lie, and only one official said it wasn’t. Language in Country: English.
“No, no, I assure you, Canada has two official languages!”, I replied in the language of Air Canada boss Michael Rousseau.
“No, just English,” she replied. You know, at WestJet, we don’t necessarily speak a second language…”
(“You know, at WestJet, you don’t have to speak a second language.”)
A few minutes later, another flight attendant came to check on us.
“Hey guys, what’s your problem?
– We have no problem, replied my wife in the language of the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon. We asked to be served in our language. We are going to file a complaint!
(“We’re going to file a complaint”)
— OK, OK, do it, WestJet is going to come to us full time! And I’m going to file a complaint against you!”
(“No problem, WestJet will support us 100%. I’ll be the one filing the complaint against you!”)
Bilingual only
WestJet does not sell biscuits or tea. It is a Canadian airline based in Calgary. In an airplane, there may be safety issues. A sick person, technical problems …
No employee speaks a single word about the country’s “other official language”? Not even a “thank you” or “hello”?
Think Transat flight attendants are monolingual French speakers?
Everywhere in Canada, people don’t care about French.
But in Quebec, it’s “bonjour hi” here and “bonjour hi” there. So let’s not offend the English speaking minority who have the right to serve in their language.
In the end, when you think about it, only Quebec has and is bilingual.
In other parts of the country everything is English only.
Only Quebecers hold the myth of two official languages.
If we don’t do this, this myth will be crushed.
Let’s take two Canadians.
The first is monolingual English speaking. The second is monolingual French speaking.
First of all you can work anywhere in the country. The second can only work in Quebec. Again, not in Montreal.
However, these two Canadian citizens should have the same rights.
Can you tell me what else we are doing in that country?
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