Air Canada fined for violating Official Languages Act
A four letter word has helped earn a couple $15,000 from Air Canada.
The word in question is ‘lift,’ which is engraved on seatbelts, without the French language equivalent.
That violates language equality laws under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Official Languages Act.
The Act states that English and French should have equal status in Canada.
Multiple lawsuits were filed by French-speaking couple Michel and Lynda Thibodeau, one which cites the missing French translation on the seatbelts.
The couple also filed various complaints saying that French translations of other signage were in smaller characters than the English.
"Air Canada systematically violates the linguistic rights of Francophones," they argued.
The serial litigators first began suing Air Canada more than a decade ago but the airline has previously escaped with a warning and forced to apologize to the couple.
They previously went to court in 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
The $15,000 penalty is for the accumulation of violations over the years for the 14 successful complaints.
"My expectation is that within a couple of months, we will be able to fly on any Air Canada plane, and finally signage will be in both official languages," said Michel Thibodeau.
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