TORONTO (AP) — The chief executive of Air Canada apologized Thursday for his inability to express himself in French after politicians called for his resignation for his English-only message of condolence after Sunday’s deadly crash in New York.
Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau has been criticized for the four-minute condolence video posted online that included only two French words — “bonjour” and “merci.”
“I am deeply saddened that my inability to speak French has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees, who have demonstrated outstanding professionalism despite the events of the past few days,” Rousseau said in a statement.
“Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French. I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve.”
Quebec’s premier called on the airline executive to resign on Wednesday. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said it showed a lack of compassion and judgment and said he look forward to hearing more from Air Canada's board of directors.
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.
Canada’s largest airline is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, where French is the primary language. Rousseau has been criticized for not speaking French previously. He delivered his condolence video message in English, with French subtitles.
Carney noted that Canada is a bilingual country with two official languages.
Quebec’s identity has been contentious since the 1760s when the British completed their takeover of what was then called New France. Quebec is about 80% French-speaking.
Quebec Premier François Legault noted that when Rousseau was appointed president of the airline in February 2021, he promised to learn French.
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages has received hundreds of complaints about Rousseau’s video.
“Back in November 2021, less than a year after he was appointed CEO of Air Canada, one of his first major speeches in his role triggered a strong controversy among Francophones, as the speech was almost exclusively in English," said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
"At the time, in response to that controversy, Rousseau apologized and pledged to learn French. He did later take French lessons but, as the new controversy suggests, it was probably not very successful to say the least.”
Jason Kenney, a former Conservative Cabinet minister, said he would rather the CEO of Canada’s flagship carrier focus his scarce time on safety and reliability than language training.
An Air Canada Express plane takes off in Montreal, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, wldbehind a memorial for Air Canada Jazz pilot Antoine Forest, who died when his plane collided with an emergency vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States appeared at an impasse Thursday, with each side hardening its position over talks and setting the stage for another potential escalation in the Middle East war. Thousands more U.S. troops neared the region, Israel poured more troops into southern Lebanon to fight the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, and Tehran tightened its grip on the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Sirens over Israel warned of barrages of incoming Iranian missiles, and Gulf nations worked to intercept fire. Heavy strikes were reported in Iran’s capital and other cities.
In a war that appears defined by who can take the most pain, the U.S. has offered shifting but ambitious objectives, including ensuring Iran’s missile and nuclear programs are no longer a threat and ending Tehran’s support for armed groups in the region. Washington at one point also pushed for the overthrow of Iran’s theocracy.
While the U.S.-Israeli campaign has hit Iran’s military and government hard, killing top leaders and striking scores of targets, Iran continues to fire missiles and there is no sign of an uprising against the government.
For Iran’s leadership, by contrast, merely outlasting the onslaught could be seen as victory. It may be hoping to get the U.S. to back down by roiling the world economy with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz — raising prices at the pump for drivers, prices in the grocery store for families and costs for businesses the world over.
Short of a negotiated solution, the U.S. would need a dramatic escalation to end Iran’s attacks and restore the free flow of goods through the strait, where 20% of all traded oil and natural gas is transported in peacetime. Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal put forth by the U.S., while putting forth its own demands.
President Donald Trump has vowed to strike Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully reopen the strait — and his new deadline for that looms this weekend, when the war will also mark a month. But a Gulf Arab bloc said Thursday that Iran is now exacting tolls from ships to ensure their safe passage through the waterway.
Iran has been blocking ships from the strait that it perceives as linked to the U.S. and Israeli war effort, while letting through a trickle of others. Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Thursday that Iran is allowing some oil tankers through as a sign of good faith for talks.
Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a bloc of six Gulf Arab nations, said Iran was charging for safe passage.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted lawmaker Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi as saying that parliament was working to formalize that process and that it was “natural” for ships to pay for it.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence called it a “de facto ‘toll booth’ regime,” saying that at least two vessels have paid in yuan, China's currency.
Iran’s grip on the strait and relentless attacks on Gulf regional energy infrastructure have sent oil prices skyrocketing and concerns of a global energy crisis surging. Brent crude, the international standard, traded at $104 Thursday, up more than 40% from Feb. 28, when the war started. Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called it a “catastrophe” for the world's economies.
Israel said it killed the head of Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy, Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, and the country’s naval intelligence chief, Behnam Rezaei.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tangsiri was responsible for bombing operations that have blocked ships from crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the killings.
Using Pakistan as an intermediary, Washington has delivered to Iran a 15-point “action list,” Trump envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed Thursday, calling it a framework for a possible peace deal. Witkoff said there were “strong signs” the U.S. could “convince Iran that this is the inflection point, with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction.”
A day after saying Iran wants to cut a deal, Trump posted on social media Thursday that Tehran needs to “get serious soon” on negotiating an end to the war “before it is too late, because once that happens there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on state TV that his government has not engaged in talks to end the war and does not plan to.
Araghchi said the U.S. had tried to send messages to Iran through other nations, “but that is not a conversation nor a negotiation.”
Egypt is also acting as a go-between, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who said Thursday that his country sees a desire from both sides “for calm, for the exploration of negotiations.”
Press TV, the English-language broadcaster on Iranian state television, said Iran has its own five-point proposal, which included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, a group of ships, including the USS Tripoli, drew closer to the Mideast with some 2,500 Marines. Also, at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne — trained to land in hostile territory to secure key territory and airfields — have been ordered to the region.
The Israeli army said Thursday it had deployed the 162nd division into southern Lebanon, joining thousands of troops that already have moved there since the war erupted. Israel says the open-ended invasion is aimed at protecting its northern border towns from Hezbollah attacks and uprooting the militant group from the area.
Israel also said it carried out a wave of attacks targeting Iranian infrastructure early Thursday, and air defenses were heard in Tehran. Heavy strikes were also reported around Isfahan, home to a major Iranian air base and other military sites, as well as one of the nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. during the 12-day war in June.
Loud booms could be heard across Israel as it was repeatedly targeted by barrages from Iran. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said a man in his 30s was killed in the area of Nahariya, the country’s northernmost coastal city. In the United Arab Emirates, two people were reported killed by shrapnel from a missile interception over Abu Dhabi.
Since the war began, more than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran, Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian told Al Jazeera.
Eighteen people have died in Israel, while three Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. At least 13 American troops have been killed. More than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states have also died.
Authorities said more than 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, where Israel has targeted the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which has fired into Israel. In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militant groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have been killed.
This story has been updated to correct the death toll in Israel, and that a Trump envoy says there are strong signs Iran can be persuaded it has no option but a deal.
Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia, and Giovanna Dell'Orto in Miami contributed to this report.
A man removes rubbles as he looks for missed stuff from his destroyed house that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit Zibbikin village as seen from Tyre city, Lebanon, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles from Iran over Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) ADDITION: Adding that the missiles came from Iran.
A woman holds a picture of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a pro-government gathering in a square in western Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Pro-government supporters chant slogans and wave Iranian flags during a rally, in a square in western Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
An Israeli warplane flies over the city of Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A woman who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits outside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Members of a family, who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, sit around a bonfire outside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pro-government supporters wave national flags as one of them holds a picture of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a rally in a square in western Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
