I’m trying to wrap my head around why Canadians are so upset about Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau giving a speech mostly in English.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I always thought Quebec was the main French-speaking hub, with pockets of French sprinkled elsewhere. Not exactly shocking, then, that English might… show up in a speech.
This whole thing kind of reminds me of the uproar over the Super Bowl performance by Bad Bunny who, from what I heard because I didn’t watch it, performed in Spanish. And people were upset… because it wasn’t in English?
Meanwhile, here in Texas, I can’t even read a street sign without getting a mini language lesson. English, Spanish, Asian, and Indigenous languages can sometimes appear all on the same pole. And nobody faints. We just keep driving.
That’s kind of what happens when you live in the real world today. It’s big, it’s mixed, and it doesn’t come with subtitles.
If we want smart, talented people from all over the globe to come here, work here, and contribute (wherever your here might be), we might have to loosen our grip on the idea that everything should feel familiar all the time. Comfort is nice—but growth usually isn’t.
Now, does that mean I personally embrace every cultural difference with open arms? Oh, absolutely not. I’ve got my limits (Burkas, for instance). But there’s a difference between “that’s not for me” and “that shouldn’t exist.”
At the end of the day, maybe the goal isn’t to make everything sound like us but to stop being so surprised when it doesn’t.
And if a little French or Spanish in the mix is the worst thing we’re dealing with… I’d say we’re doing just fine.
More later ... and comment if you understand the bruhaha.
