The Spirit of Bilingualism

"At 11:46 a.m., the flight attendant came by and asked my wife and me, 'Anything to drink, folks?'  Lynda said, "Rien, merci" (No, thank you).  I told her "Je vais prendre un 7Up s.v.p."  (I would like a 7Up, please).  She served me a Sprite."

And this intolerable slight to two passengers on board an Air Canada flight that traumatized them by its insult to Canada's bilingual imperative has become a cause celebre.  The life mission of fluently bilingual Michel Thibodeau of Ottawa.  Who, in an affaidavit filed with the Federal Court, challenged the constitutionality of Air Canada's performance in snubbing its obligations to provide bilingual service to clients.

This flight was one from Charlotte, North Carolina to Toronto, that took place on May 12, 2009.  Michel Thibodeau had suffered a similar gross indignation of his rights as a French Canadian living in the Nation's capital, and fluent in both French and English, but insistent on his right to be served in the 'language of choice', in an officially bilingual Canada, on other occasions as well.

 In an Air Ontario flight from Montreal to Ottawa, he attempted to similarly order a 7Up from a unilingual English flight attendant, and that time too, in 2000, his entitled expectations were cruelly dashed.  He took action, filing suit in Federal Court for $525,000 in damages.  His complaint was upheld by the court, the airline ordered to proffer a formal apology, and pay him $5,375.95 for hurt feelings. 

He was able, then, to buy with those proceeds all the 7Up his little heart desired. Moreover, he was also honoured for his valorous performance by the French-language rights group, Imperatif francais.  There is obviously much satisfaction to be had in challenging Air Canada's laxity in providing that most critical of all service to its passengers. 

But the battle was not over.  The Federal Court of Appeal has seen fit to overturn a portion of the 2011 Federal Court judgement finding the airline and its contact carrier, Jazz, guilty of breaching the Official Languages Act on four occasions in 2009.  All four occasions involving !my goodness! Michel and Lynda Thibodeau.  Whose righteous indignation that the sanctimonious display of entitlement to their personal dignity must see profitable closure.

The main ruling, that Air Canada has always acknowledged, those four breaches that so dreadfully upset the Thibodeaus, causing them great anguish and inconvenience, was upheld.  But the monetary damages awarded by the lower court to the couple was lowered from $12,000 to $3,000.  The lower court's finding that Air Canada exhibits a "systemic problem" in compliance with federal linguistic requirements was also overturned.

The Thibodeaus' original complaint of eight distinct instances occurring in 2009 to this well-travelled pair in which they were denied services in French at airports in Atlanta, Toronto and Ottawa, and aboard three Air Canada Jazz flights between Canada and the United States, appears to have come a bit of a cropper.  They must be mightily annoyed over yet another inconvenience in their busy lives.

But should Air Canada disappoint them again, they will doubtless yet again take legal steps to hold their corporate feet to the Official Languages Act fire of damnation.